FAA ground stop: Latest updates from MSP

All right, so now we are going to go to Mike Manzoni, who has been at MSP Airport, and he's outside there live watching the planes, I guess, not take off. Mike, have you seen any movement out there? They're certainly not taking off, but we have seen some land within the last several minutes. I think there's one that we can see off in the distance now. You can see the plane lights as that one's approaching the runway here at MSP. We've seen a handful of those maybe within the last 30 minutes or so. They just kind of land and then taxi to wherever they're going. More planes though, most planes are on the ground here, they haven't gone anywhere, you can see them off in the distance at the gates, over the fence, that looks like Delta Airlines, and there are some American Airlines planes, off camera, you can't see a lot of Sun Country planes, and some others that are at the gates, really no movement at all, every now and then you'll maybe see a plane taxi to a different section of the runway. The plane that I was mentioning that we showed at the beginning of the live shot here landing now, I think you can probably hear the engines, is that it looks like a Delta plane comes in here that landed within the last several minutes, within the last several seconds. I do want to show you over here, this is another section of kind of just off the side of the tarmac. There are a handful of planes off in the distance. We've seen planes land or taxi from another section of the airport and then kind of go off into what almost appears to be a kind of a holding area. I'm not sure exactly what that is, if it's just that they don't have a gate for those planes or if they're just trying to free up some space on the tarmac. But we have noticed that planes have... kind of taxied over there and then they're just kind of sitting there unclear if there is anyone on those planes at this point. We don't know when this ground stop is going to end. We heard five o'clock, six o'clock, but no firm timeline at this point. We do know that the FAA is investigating to try to piece together what exactly happened here. And we will continue to stay out here and monitor things and bring you any new information, obviously, just as soon as we have it. All right, Mike. Thank you. I'm just going to have to keep on watching, but it doesn't sound like any of those planes are going to move for quite a while. No. And even for the incoming one, I'm thinking, okay, maybe a lot of them probably relieved, but you have to think if they have a connecting flight potentially, so they'll be stuck there and just like the rest of the people inside MSP. So Mike, we appreciate you giving us the visuals outside because it certainly does tell the story. Right, and now we're going to see what it looks like inside the airport. Maury Glover is live inside the airport now. He's been checking in with passengers and those who are having to wait quite a while to just kind of see what's going to happen there, Maury. That's right. And like I said, everybody seems to be taking this all in stride. I mentioned during our last live shot, I spoke to a passenger who was supposed to be taking her kids down to Disneyland. I misspoke. I said Disney World. It's Disneyland. But she's joining us right now. It's Janet Lachey. And she's with her two sons, Namir and Nakim. And first, I guess, kind of what did you see and what happened once you got here to the airport today? When I got to the airport, they said there are no flights. Going in, out, in the sky, nothing in the sky. And I'm like, what does that mean? Like, how is this possible? But I don't know how I feel about this because they don't have no answers. And we don't know what's going on. So, yeah. Did you, I know originally you were worried about checking your bag because you were worried about not being able to get it back. What did you do and why did you decide to do that? I checked my bag. I just decided to check my bag because I don't know, just in case it start running, I have hope, but then a part of me, even if it is tomorrow or the next day, I don't know. What's your plan for this evening? Are you going to hang out here at the airport? Are you going to go home? Are you going to get a hotel? What are you going to do? I'm just going to hang out here until further notice, I guess. And how are your boys doing? Obviously they thought they were going to be on their way to Disneyland and now they have to hang out at the airport. I guess how are they? They're not happy. They seem to be at least... They're trying to figure it out. They're trying to figure it out, but they're ready to go. They're ready to go. Well, how would you describe this whole experience? This whole experience is, I don't know if I feel nervous or should I wait until tomorrow? Because it's like, what's going on? Well, that's confusion, as a lot of people are feeling that, but you seem to be handling it all in stride, so I appreciate you taking a few minutes. I'm good under pressure. Okay. I know it'll work out in the end. Okay. All right. Well, good luck with everything, and hope you and your family do make it to Disneyland sooner rather than later. I do have one other passenger who's been very patiently standing by to talk with us. This is John Schmidt. He's a teacher at Forest Lake High School. Yes, at Forest Lake High School. And I guess, what did you see and what happened when you got here to the airport today? I got out of the car fully expecting to get in line, get a boarding pass, and go to the gate. I was told by a Delta employee at the front of the line, all flights are going to be canceled or delayed. And I referred to Google immediately, and it said that air traffic control centers are having a hard time with communications right now. The FAA is just grounding everybody. They can't. I can't put flights anywhere unless they can communicate with them. I'm a commercial rated single engine pilot. I'm hoping to teach aviation at Forest Lake High School next fall. So I'm going to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association High School Aviation Symposium in Phoenix. Five hundred and twenty aviation teachers from across the nation are going to be there, minus one, unless I can get there. Well, you may not be the only one who won't be able to get there. So I guess, kind of, how do you feel about the fact that you won't be able to get there? I'm a commercial-rated pilot, and sometimes these things happen. It's not Delta's fault, and I don't know. The FAA may be underfunded, and they don't have the most modern of equipment, and so there's reliability issues there. If they can't communicate with flights... It's better to leave them on the ground. I accept that, and that's just part of flying. I've just been asking people about whether you checked your bag or not, because that's been one of the concerns of folks. I've heard that some airlines are giving folks their bags back if they've checked them, and some aren't. Did you check your bag, and what happened with you? I had a bag check for Los Angeles. I was going to make a triangle, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and back, and they said, no, that's not going to happen. So I took the tag off, kept the bag, and... Hopefully I'll be able to get on a flight tomorrow. I was given a boarding pass for a flight tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. So I have to be here at 5 a.m. That's fine by me as long as I get a flight out there. So what's your plan for tonight? Are you going to go back home? Are you going to hang out here? What are you going to do? I'm really not sure yet. I have to make that decision, maybe make a few phone calls, see if I can get an overnight accommodation somewhere. I'll be fine. Well, just your overall thoughts about this experience. I'm glad that they're grounding in the name of safety. They have to. Thank you. Again, I wish the FAA had better funding, more modern equipment, things like that. They're just getting rid of floppy disks at some locations right now. I just read online. So, I mean, I guess that's the way it goes. It's not Delta's fault. It's a government communications problem. OK. All right. Well, thank you very much for chatting with us. Really appreciating. Good luck making it to your destination. So like I mentioned, lots of folks seem to be taking this all, you know, with patience and being calm. Haven't seen any outbursts or anything like that. I'm sure some folks are frustrated. But for the most part, people seem to be handling this fairly well. Back to you. To hear people taking it fairly well, because I'm sure a lot of people were frustrated, but like the gentleman that he was just talking to, in the name of safety. And what are you going to do anyway, getting angry or frustrated? It's not going to change a thing. It's not going to make things go faster. But if we could have that mentality about everything. I know, right? Every day. The world would be a better place. But I love that, Maury. All right. Keep talking. That's right. Also, can we talk about the two kids who didn't even look up at the camera? I mean, I guess mom was happy to have something to occupy their time, though. Distractions. Yeah. Hi. They're on their phones, so I know parents complain about kids being on their phones all the time, but this is one of those situations where I'm sure they don't mind. Oh, I'm sure they are like, she's taking the phone now. No complaints there. She's got a long night ahead of her, so maybe a long day tomorrow, too. So good for her. All right. Thanks, Maury.