Travelers at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport were forced to rethink their weekend plans Friday after a nationwide FAA ground stop brought flight departures across the country to a halt for roughly four hours.
The ground stop, issued shortly before 1 p.m., was lifted around 5:30 p.m. after air traffic control data and router communication issues disrupted operations nationwide.
For some passengers at SBP, however, lifting the ground stop came too late to save their original travel plans.
San Luis Obispo resident Remy Campbell was forced to deplane from her flight to Denver.
“I started to panic,” Campbell said.
“The pilot just came on, and he said we’re making a ground stop, it’s nationwide, we don’t know what’s going on,” she said.
Campbell was eventually rebooked on a 5 a.m. flight Saturday, but amid the chaos on Friday afternoon, she said she was concerned about it taking off as scheduled.
Arroyo Grande residents Jennifer and Danny McCallister had a different approach.
The couple was supposed to fly to Las Vegas Friday night to see the Eagles at the Sphere on Saturday, but after arriving at SBP and learning about the disruption, they decided to drive instead.
“We’re going to plan B,” Jennifer McCallister said.
“When we arrived at the airport and found all this out, we decided to pivot, and now we’ll just drive.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the nationwide ground stop followed a communications problem affecting air route traffic control centers across the country.
While the ground stop was lifted around 5:30 p.m., travelers may still face delays and other disruptions as airlines work to get flights back on schedule.
SBP officials are encouraging travelers to check directly with their airlines before heading to the airport for the latest flight status, rebooking information and possible waivers.
