(WSVN) - While the nationwide ground stop imposed Friday has ended, fatigue and frustration in South Florida’s busiest airports have not.
In Miami International Airport, flyers are trying to get back on track now that flights are taking off again.
The delays and cancellations caused by the Federal Aviation Administration’s grounding of all flights Friday has had a domino effect for passengers with flights originally scheduled for Saturday as well.
One so passenger, Jennifer Champagne, called the situation “a complete nightmare.”
“My flight was to board at 1:35, and then a second flight was to depart at 6:13, and they have canceled,” said Champagne. “Now my luggage is on a flight. I’m stuck here. They said I can’t get out till Tuesday, the 17th.”
She was forced to book with another airline for only the chance of getting home today.
“Fingers crossed that I get to go back to Canada,” Champagne said.
Her situation isn’t an odd one out, as there were more than 240 flight cancelations at MIA Saturday. About 360 flights were delayed.
“I’m very angry right now,” said traveler Ed So. “Yeah, not very happy.”
So and his family had just gotten back from a cruise when they became stuck in Miami-Dade County.
“I’m with a 10-year-old, my parents are 70 years old,” So said. “And my luggage actually went to Dallas right now, believe it or not.”
He had to book a hotel for the night as there are no flights home to Canada.
Others were a little more fortunate, like some heading to Denver.
“There was a plan to take the rental car and drive it back to Denver, and that was horrifying,” said traveler Mike Gomez. “Didn’t want to do that.”
So far, his flight is scheduled to leave on time Saturday night.
“Little less anxious,” Gomez said. “More hopeful that we’re gonna get home.”
For those that are not able to get home Saturday, they’re trying to keep things in perspective.
“I’m going to get home,” said Champagne. “Life could be worse, so.”
In the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the latest numbers show 218 cancelations and 226 delays to their flights.
“Our flight was this morning at like nine?” traveler Lisa said. “But they pushed it until nine tonight. So we just have to sit around for 12 hours.”
For many passengers, delays pushed their flights past Saturday completely.
“We’ve been here since yesterday,” a traveler, Michael, said. “…The earliest flight we can get is tomorrow. So we’re gonna get a hotel right now.”
Some passengers are choosing to land in airports further from their homes in hopes of a faster trip back in the end.
“We were supposed to go out at noon,” said Linda Cumby. “Got all the way upstairs and then it got canceled. Had to come back down here to ticketing to get tickets again, go pickup our luggage to come back. Now we’re hoping to get out to D.C., which is not even close to where we live. We live in Virginia Beach.”
Friday’s ground stop was the nation’s longest since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the first-ever nationwide ground stop in the United States.
“I didn’t like not knowing what was going to happen next,” said flyer Kris.
Luckily, Kris is set to make it to her destination on time, for now.
“At the moment, it still says on time, but we’re not sure ’cause there’s problems in Chicago, which is where we’re headed,” she said.
Others are not so lucky.
“We still don’t know if our flight’s gonna be canceled,” said traveler Amanda Jones. “It could be.”
“It’s an adventure, it’s out of your control,” said another flyer.
Travelers were also met with long lines at customer service counters.
“Actually, a lot of my family is still here and hasn’t been able to fly out,” said Jones.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Friday that it will take time to resume normal operations after the ground stop.
While FAA officials say the worst has passed, passengers still want to board their flight as soon as possible.
“People have spent the night here and they can’t get out of here for a couple days,” Lisa said.
“Literally, if we don’t get out today, they’ve told us that it’s gonna be two or three days before we get out because everybody else has booked out everything else,” said Cumby.
Passengers are encouraged to check their flight status with their airline before heading to the airport as delays and cancelations could continue to Sunday.
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