Tampa International Airport delays continue after FAA ground stop

TAMPA, Fla. - Travelers at Tampa International Airport are scrambling to salvage weekend getaways and find alternative routes home Saturday following a four-hour nationwide ground stop that grounded nearly 100 flights in Tampa.

Tampa International Airport disruptions

What we know:

A nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop brought departures to a halt for more than four hours on Friday. The agency blamed the shutdown on a telecommunications failure involving aging air traffic control equipment.

By late Friday evening, 156 flights at Tampa International Airport were delayed and 96 were canceled, according to airport figures. While the nationwide ground stop has since been lifted, airport officials warn disruptions could continue for the next few weeks as airlines work to get back on track.

Tampa Bay passenger reactions

What they're saying:

For Nathan Sheppard and Erin McWorter, a spontaneous weekend getaway to Austin, Texas, never got off the ground. Their flight was among dozens canceled at Tampa International Airport.

"Said we would take off at 7 a.m. This morning and get there at, I think, nine o'clock as we made land, have a full day of fun in Austin through Monday," Sheppard said.

Instead of flying, the pair decided to pivot to a road trip, "but we'll drive somewhere. We'll have some fun. Yeah. Whatever we figure out," McWorter said.

Getting home turned into a cross-state trek for Sean Hartage, who was trying to return to Rochester, New York. After waking up at 3 a.m. for a 6:30 a.m. flight out of Orlando International Airport, he learned his flight was canceled just as his 4 a.m. ride arrived at the terminal.

"I went to Kayak, searched for airlines that were leaving today, found Breeze out of Tampa, and I was like, okay, great, So, and it's a straight shot too, so no connecting flights. It's just straight from here to Rochester and, yeah, and then I immediately went over the lift and got the ride," Hartage said, explaining why he took a Lyft from Orlando to Tampa for an afternoon flight rather than extending his stay.

Not every traveler at the airport ran into trouble. Joseph Young and his wife were heading out on vacation without a hitch after monitoring their flight status closely.

"We were really nervous yesterday, last night, but once it cleared up, we checked flight status, and it was showing we were good. Got up at six o'clock this morning, check it. Everything was showing good," Young said.

His wife admitted the quiet skies on the ride to the airport initially raised concerns. "Driving in, we didn't see any planes in the sky so we were a little nervous about that but, but I—I think we're going to be fine," she said.

Airline schedule recovery outlook

What we don't know:

Airport officials have not specified exactly how many weeks it will take for airline operations to fully normalize. Officials also have not released updated cancellation and delay totals for Saturday or detailed when the aging air traffic control telecommunications equipment will be permanently repaired.