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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Several who had plans to fly in and out of the airport on time today say it’s been a frustrating day.
Thousands of flights nationwide were canceled or delayed due to a system outage at the FAA.
As the day has gone by flights are getting back on schedule, but there are still some delays and cancellations in the mix.
According to the FAA, the nationwide ground stop was ordered following an outage to the air message system responsible for sending out necessary safety information to flight crews.
Kim Hunt, VP of Communications for the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport, says this led to several delays and cancellations.
“When planes are sitting on the ground for several hours and not able to take off, that impacts not only the flights at that airport but also the flights at where those flights are supposed to go,” Hunt said.
An inconvenience like this can be frustrating for passengers.
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“Very frustrating. I’ve been here a week on some family business, and I was looking forward to getting back home today, but you know what, things happen, and I understand that, but it’s still disappointing,” said James Carden, a passenger traveling back home to Florida.
The delays for his initial flight in Birmingham caused Carden to miss his connecting flight. He says he opted for a rental car to get home to Florida instead.
Situations like this are why Kevin Harbor with Avis says rental car services stay prepared.
“I mean they get to go home,” said Harbor, who serves as the AVIS Airport Manager. “They get to see their families, and it’s just something that, you know, we want to provide as a company knowing that people have an avenue to get out of the situation.”
If you do choose to stick with a flight, Hunt says it’s imperative that you continue checking its status.
“If you are scheduled to travel by air today, check your flight status often with your airline because we do expect there to be more changes as the air traffic system recovers throughout the day,” said Hunt.
An exact cause for this situation has not been determined at this time, but President Biden says the Department of Transportation is looking into it. Officials say there was no evidence of a cyber-attack.
