BOSTON — While the FAA’s nationwide ground stop is over, the impacts are still being felt at Boston’s Logan Airport.
For passenger Arno Bester, the experience has been a travel nightmare. Bester said he flew to Boston from Ireland as he tried to make a work gala in Miami for Saturday night but now, he’s stuck at Logan.
“At the moment, I can’t leave this airport,” Bester said. “There’s no flights, everything has doubled in price so the flights that are available are $2,000 to $3,000.”
Bester read Boston 25 News a text he got from Delta Airlines during the interview.
“It looks like the current flight to Boston is currently delayed, and you will not get to Atlanta until 2:40 p.m.,” Bester said. “Unfortunately, there are no options that will make it to Miami today.”
Troy Goodwin from Saugus is supposed to be in Las Vegas for a work event he helped plan, but his flight was canceled. He told Boston 25 that 12,000 people were set to attend.
“We’re hoping to get out of here, staying positive,” Goodwin said. “We’re just trying to figure out the best steps but more concerned about all the other people that are trying to get there too.”
Delayed and canceled flights could continue until the end of Sunday as travel gradually returns back to normal.
Some travelers told Boston 25 News, that they were able to catch a flight out of Boston Saturday morning, but then their connecting flights were impacted.
“From Boston to Atlanta, we’re good luckily,” one passenger said. “From Atlanta to Alabama, I got pushed out and I may have to rent a car, so we’ll see.”
Out of all the people Boston 25 interviewed Saturday morning, only one woman appeared to get lucky.
“I just decided to go ahead and come out to the airport and see if it [her flight] was going out, and it is, everything’s fine,” Darlene Jackson said.
Officials said the ground stop was due to a communications problem while attempting to add new technology to the country’s outdated air traffic control system.
Now, many passengers are still left scrambling and confused.
“Everything just shut down and then all of the sudden, after a couple of hours, we’re all safe to fly again,” Bester explained. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
Massport said passengers at Logan are encouraged to check with airlines directly for their flight status. They also have additional staff at the airport to assist travelers as needed.
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