Sky Harbor recovering after FAA nationwide outage

Duffy says flights with a larger number of passengers, those will be prioritized first, along with the flights of college football teams out of their games tomorrow. Tonight, we're hearing reaction from people who were stranded in the valley and learning more about the impacts of today's ground stop. Yeah, we have team coverage for you tonight on this. In just a few minutes, we're going to check in with Nicole Christine. And then later, Fox 10 Sports' Blake Neiman will tell us what comes next for ASU football's flight after it was canceled before the game tomorrow. Yeah, but first, we check in with Brian Webb. He's live tonight from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport with more there. Brian. Well, things have quieted down considerably tonight. It never did get too bad here where we are, Terminal 4. No anger and outrage, more frustration and confusion. Take a look at the departure board behind me. Some of these flights don't leave until after midnight. I'm looking at Chicago Midway there. 2.05 a.m. departure, 2.38 a.m. departure, but at least they are taking off again. So we have video from earlier today as well behind the security gates. A different story back there. Many passengers were on the airplane when they were told to get off and then had to wait and wait for word about what comes next. Some people stuck it out. Others went home. Plenty tried to book other flights. And some of those same people are still here tonight hoping to get to far-flung places like Florida. We caught up to Imelda a few minutes ago, and here's how her day is going so far. Flight got delayed, not once, not twice, but three, four different times, and then finally said canceled about, you know, 40 minutes ago, and I decided to book a flight through Southwest, and same thing, now it's saying that it departs at 12.13, but originally it's supposed to be about 7.40. Okay, a heck of a day. Yeah, it's been a nightmare. Hi, Mary. How are you? Yeah, nightmare indeed. So we've seen it all today. People trying to go on vacation, on business trips, a couple who passed us by and said they'd seen enough and were driving to Dallas overnight. And we just saw a mother and daughter handing out free pizza to anyone who wanted a slice. But looking at that departure board, this long day is not done yet. All right, let's go live to Nicole Christine, also standing by at Sky Harbor Airport tonight. Nicole. Hey, Brian. So as you mentioned, just talking to so many travelers today who are on their way or at least were intending to be on their way to life events, getting those delayed or outright canceled, everything from funerals to weddings to baptisms. So down here at baggage claim tonight, there's only a few people left and it's mostly people still waiting for their bags. We've talked to people who have been here since early in the afternoon before this ground stop was issued and they say that they have just I've waited and waited watching those delays come down and then in some cases cancellations. Some have made the decision that, you know what, I'm just gonna wait till tomorrow anyways. Brian mentioned that there had been some confusion, disappointment. We have heard some angry people down here tonight, definitely. I think they're just kind of resigned to what their fate has been today, but they're also just wondering how long this headache is going to last. And as you can imagine, people, when they're frustrated and especially dealing with big things that are now out of their control, they try to find somewhere to point their frustration. So we have heard from some people who I think are at their wits' end, But others are finding the silver... Silver lining. We spoke to some people about their travel. Here's what they had to say about what's next for them. Are you waiting for your bag now? I am. What's your next plan? I'm still waiting for my bag, and I've been here since three-something. And I've got a wonderful missionary couple that is going to drive me to California so I can be there for my twins' baptism. I'm from Mexico, and we're on a fishing trip, so... Not getting through the flights very well, so had 150 pounds of fish, and it's all bad. Mine's sitting on the plane. It'll be maybe in Medford tomorrow spinning around. Yeah, so just hearing from so many people who are having to rearrange their weekends and, of course, their emotions run the gamut. And, you know, we are going to check back in at 9.30. We'll hear from a few people who are really taking the opportunity to thank those who are working here. They've had long hours as well trying to answer questions. So that's coming up at 9:30. Just a little bit of love for some of these airport workers. But for now, live from Sky Harbor, Nicole Christine, Fox 10 News. All right, Nicole, thank you and stay with Fox 10 on air online and on the Fox local app for continuing coverage of the ripple effects of this nationwide ground stop from today that has now been lifted, but it's going to take some time to get back on track.