Airports fill with stranded passengers: 'I might spend the rest of my life here'

Terry Castleman and Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times on Nov 13, 2026

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It was a day marked by confusion and frayed nerves as passengers dealt with more than 1,000 delayed flights due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s nationwide ground stop.

Passengers were stranded at airports as they waited to see how long the delays would last and when their canceled flights would be rebooked.

Zack Richeimer, 29, found himself stuck at Los Angeles International Airport’s Terminal 6 on Friday, “running around like a chicken with its head cut off,” hoping to find a way to San Francisco.

When he arrived at the airport, his flight to San Francisco International Airport was officially delayed, and the screens at the terminal showed no cancellations, so he figured he just needed to wait. Then his phone lit up, with several friends telling him: “You’re stuck.”

An Alaska Airlines agent helped him rebook for Saturday, but Richeimer wanted to keep his plans in the Bay Area and scrambled to find a way to make it there.

Other travelers around him seemed either to be frantically working on their phones or sitting in disbelief. “It’s a little overwhelming,” he said.

His flight home to New York City on Sunday will depart from SFO, so he tried the rental car companies — hoping to drive instead — but no one was picking up the phone.

“I’m also part of a mass exodus from this airport at the moment,” Richeimer said. “I came to L.A. not realizing that I might spend the rest of my life here.”

His plan was to show up at a rental car facility near LAX and hope for the best. The backup plan: his friends’ couch.

Irvine resident Maria Moye sat at the Delta terminal at LAX answering work emails while she waited for a rideshare to come take her home.

The retail marketing director arrived at the airport two hours before her planned 3:40 p.m. flight to New York’s JFK airport for a work trip — only to find it had been affected by the stoppage. She said she tried canceling her ticket, but Delta’s app and website were having technical issues.

“I feel better that I’m not getting on,” Moye. said. “Just in case.”

Dylan Schroeder, 37, had already boarded a plane in Charlotte, N.C. around 3:45 p.m. Eastern Time, headed for Orlando when the pilot made an unusual announcement.

“Once everyone was on board,” he said, “the pilot came on saying Air Traffic Control was having system issues.”

The pilot said they’d stay on the plane for an update and, after just over an hour announced that the passengers would deplane.

Schroeder, a Baton Rouge resident, said the overall mood on the plane was decent “considering the circumstances.” Several passengers who appeared to be going to Disney World appeared to be disappointed.

Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed that it was a telecommunications outage and that the ground stop did not constitute a national security threat.

As of 2:30 p.m., there were more than 9,900 flights delayed across the United States and about 900 cancellations, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. At Los Angeles International Airport, more than 550 flights were delayed, and 47 had been canceled.

United and Delta airlines have posted updates on their websites to alert passengers.

“The FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop. New domestic flights will not depart while the FAA ground stop remains in place. International departures are being managed on a case-by-case basis by the FAA. United flights that are already airborne will continue, but diversions are occurring due to the number of airplanes on the ground at our hubs. Cancellations are being implemented due to congestion in the nation’s air traffic system,” United wrote on its website.

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