Delta issues update on ground stop delays

We have an update from Delta. So they have just released a statement here about the nationwide ground stop, saying, quote, Delta continues to restore operations following an FAA-mandated nationwide ground stop that lasted more than four hours yesterday. Customers traveling today should expect delays and additional schedule adjustments as we work to reposition flight crews and aircraft. Taking care of customers remains our focus and we continue to offer flexible rebooking options to change flights at no extra cost. Customers who have flexible travel plans are encouraged to move their flights to Monday. Or later. And if you are traveling on Saturday, they say please allow extra time and check the Delta app or delta.com for the latest flight status and travel information. Delta will provide customers with as much notice as possible about changes to flight schedules. And when a cancellation does occur, they say. Delta will automatically rebook customers to the next best itinerary. And that is from their spokesperson. This just coming into our newsroom about 7 to 10 minutes ago. Wanted to bring that to you live. And now again, I'm going to show you some pictures that people have sent to us about what they experienced yesterday during that nationwide ground stop. So this right here, I'm going to remove this live bug so you can see the names as well. Emily Coley submitted this and you can see she's in a very long line here We are working... It looks like to get to somewhere else and the airport does another location in the airport. That is, she says, quote, this is the most insane thing I've ever experienced in my life. And again, many people are impacted and you see a good bit of people on your screen there. So this guy also submitted an image here. This is a entertainment. That is the name that he submitted. But he said, quote, yes, very much stuck at the airport. And you can see that he's laying on like a. a cot or some sort of seat. I'm guessing he may have had to spend the night in the airport. We do know that a lot of people were stranded at the Atlanta airport and at airports across the nation and they had to sleep at the airport. Some people even lost their luggage in the situation and are still working to get their luggage back. I want to take a look at some quotes that people sent in. So Amy DeGraff says. Quote stuck on a plane here in Atlanta since 440. Again, this was yesterday and no gates to go to, deplane could be hours. We have a baby on board wearing her last diaper. Very scary. They're very sad situation to have a baby involved in this situation. And she says the baby was on their last diaper. Moving to our next person here. This was somebody sent this to us from Facebook. So this is from Marissa Murphy DeSano. She says, quote, stuck on ATL waiting for a flight. To Key West. Again, we want you to be a part of this conversation. If you were impacted by this nationwide ground stop, feel free to scan that QR code on your screen. And this last quote here from Christine in Atlanta. She says, imagine being on your flight and the pilot comes over the intercom stating, has anyone seen the news? Just to say, there is a nationwide ground stop at all airports, and Atlanta is no longer accepting planes. Therefore, we will land at the closest airport, which is Birmingham for her. Then, she says, he states that this situation may not be resolved before midnight, and we can deplane, but cannot collect our bags underneath the plane. All rental cars were gone. A very expensive Uber ride later, I am home for... hours later. So, of course, our thoughts are with Christine and everyone impacted by this, and I mentioned that some people could not retrieve their bags last night. This is a case of that. So, again, she was able to get off the plane, but she could not get her bags underneath the plane. I don't know if she was able to eventually get them, but a lot of people today still could not get their bags after they got off the plane, and she experienced an expensive Uber ride home. Again, this is just a stressful situation, to say the least. So our thoughts are with everyone involved here. And I want to talk about the impact that this has had on college football really quickly here on Fox Local. So we know that several SEC football teams were also caught up in this mess here. This is an earlier look at their travel nightmare, courtesy of On3. So now we've learned that Texas, Tennessee, and Auburn have arrived at their destinations and their games will go on as scheduled today. Unfortunately for Ole Miss and Oklahoma, that game has been rescheduled for tomorrow at 2 p.m. Eastern time. For the Bulldogs and Georgia Tech, Yellow Jackets, they were not impacted by the ground stop, so their games will go on as planned. And coming up in about an hour here on Fox Local, we will check in with our sports team. Olivia Whitmire, UGA, set to face Mizzou today at 3.30 again. That game was not impacted by the nationwide ground stop, and it will happen. As planned in Athens today.