Travelers faced major disruptions this Memorial Day weekend as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded hundreds of flights nationwide due to severe weather.
The FAA cited safety concerns amid thunderstorms and adverse weather conditions.
Newsweek has contacted the FAA via email for comment.
Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/AP
Why It Matters
According to an FAA advisory, flights will be affected from Sunday night through to Memorial Day Monday, with a medium probability of extension. With thousands of passengers expected to fly, further delays are likely.
The FAA anticipated seeing record-high travel over this period, with a peak on Thursday of nearly 54,000 flights.
What To Know
Thunderstorms that moved into the Denver metro area Sunday forced the FAA to halt flights coming into the city’s international airport (DIA).
More storms in Central Florida also prompted a ground stop at Orlando International Airport (MCO) on Sunday evening, temporarily halting incoming flights and causing significant delays.
Officials urged passengers to check flight statuses regularly.
As reported by Fox35 Orlando, a ground stop was implemented Sunday evening at MCO due to thunderstorms, suspending inbound flights from several regional hubs. Departures from the airport faced average delays of 90 minutes as weather-related disruptions continued to escalate.
Colorado local news outlet Denver7 reported that a ground stop was issued Sunday at 3:45 p.m. local time for DIA and lasted for an hour. During this time, most inbound flights were temporarily grounded.
Due to adverse weather conditions, the airport saw a surge in delays and cancellations in the hours before the FAA issued its order in the afternoon.
DIUA has reported over 400 flight delays and at least 10 cancellations during the busy Memorial Day travel weekend, according to Denver 7.
This follows on from a tornado that landed just outside Denver last week, causing mass destruction, with footage captured by a passenger on a plane, as reported by Newsweek.
This is the second incident affecting DIA this month. According to the FAA, part of the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center experienced “a loss of communications for approximately 90 seconds around 1:50 p.m. local time on Monday, May 12, when both transmitters that cover a segment of airspace went down.
“Controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots. Aircraft remained safely separated, and there were no impacts to operations. The FAA is investigating,” the agency said.
What People Are Saying
Representatives from the FAA, airline industry, and labor organizations met last week to share safety best practices and discuss how to make the world’s busiest air transportation system even safer.
Acting FAA administrator Chris Rocheleau said: “Commercial airline travel remains the safest form of transportation in world history. But the last three months drove home that we need to do more, we need to be better, and we need to do it together.”
What Happens Next
Travelers are advised to keep an eye on the FAA website to monitor the status of all airports across the National Airspace System, and to visit the FAA’s PackSafe page for information on what you can and can’t take on a plane.
link