‘Why sit and wait?’: Travelers at El Paso International reckon with 4.5 hour ground stoppage
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — As El Paso & Las Cruces residents along with travelers from across the county dealt with the chaos that was the Federal Aviation Administration’s nationwide ground stoppage, one that lasted from just after 2 p.m. to nearly 6:30 p.m. local time, many threw in the proverbial towel of trying to reach their desired destination Friday.
According to the city of El Paso, El Paso International Airport’s flight operations are resuming, but said that, “passengers may continue to experience residual delays as airlines work to return to normal schedules.”
However, many passengers told ABC-7 that their airline kept informing them that their flights were simply being delayed, not cancelled.
“Why sit and wait,” said Scott Tuch Farber, a Long Beach, California resident, who was visiting El Paso for a funeral and attempting to fly home.
“Nobody knew what was going on other than a communication problem…Why beat a dead dog?”
That similar calm attitude was also evident amongst locals ABC-7 spoke with, including Mark McDowell, a Las Cruces resident who was hoping to fly to Seattle via Phoenix to surprise his grandson for his 4th birthday.
“We fly quite a bit…something like this. I’ve never been part of this,” said McDowell. “It’s different, but we’re flexible. So I’m not too upset…”
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