Passengers left in limbo amid nationwide ground stop

A nationwide ground stop left passengers and airlines scrambling on Friday, including at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.

The Details

The ground stop began around 3 p.m. and ended around 7:30 p.m., but in those hours, thousands of flights had already been impacted.

FAA lifts nationwide ground stop; federal officials say it will be 'some time' before normalcy "When our flight was boarding, we walked to our gate, and we got turned around," Brianne Duncan, traveling home to Utah, said. "We sat at the gate for a bit. They just said national shutdown, which was kind of crazy and eerie a little bit."

Travelers in Milwaukee were left scrambling.

"We get here, we're told that flights are delayed and then now they're canceled and now people are rebooking the flights," Sterling Warren, a traveler trying to head home, said. "I had to rebook my flight for tomorrow morning, so I'm currently looking for somewhere to stay."

Airlines are also trying to keep up in the chaos. Some airlines were even returning already checked baggage back to passengers before it ever made it on a flight.

"People were actually downstairs grabbing their bags to get them out of being checked and said you can't check in right now," Ryan Mucklin, trying to travel for an out-of-town tournament, said.

There was uncertainty up to the moment the ground stop was lifted, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said it will take "some time" to get back to normal operations and through the ripple effects of the ground stop.

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport officials are encouraging any passenger impacted by the ground stop to check with their airline to figure out the best option when it comes to rebooking or a refund.

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