A ground stop at Orlando International Airport caused hundreds of flight delays and cancellations, leaving many travelers, including spring breakers, stranded as they tried to return home.
The ground stop, initially expected to last until 10:45 p.m., resulted in around 500 delays and nearly 100 cancellations, according to FlightAware.com.
The airport’s terminals were packed with weary travelers on Sunday night.
Zeb Whitcavitch, traveling to Albany, said, “We did pretty well, but hate to end it this way with our flight cancelled.”
The Russell Sage College baseball team from New York State was among those affected, with 45 members staying overnight at the airport after their trip to Orlando for spring break.
“We’re told we’re pushed back until tomorrow, and there’s more talk of the softball team for our school that could also be pushed back until Tuesday. So it’s definitely a little setback, but we still had a good trip,” Whitcavitch said.
Brittney Ferrin, who is trying to make it back to Omaha with her family, said, “We were trying to get to St. Louis and connect, but that flight has disappeared.”
Ferrin expressed the challenges of being stuck, saying, “We are stuck here, and we’re trying to figure out how to either stay for a couple of days or get home to Nebraska somehow.”
As the busiest day of spring break travel, Ferrin, like many others, faced weather-related disruptions.
Reflecting on her trip, Ferrin said, “We were here all week, we went to all the parks, we might even do Universal now if we have an extra day now, who knows. But my husband just keeps seeing the dollar signs, and he’s like come on, come home.”
