Travelers faced crowded terminals, canceled flights and lengthy rebooking lines across Southern California on Saturday, Nov. 14, as disruptions continued after Friday’s nationwide ground stop. Aircraft and crews left out of position by the shutdown complicated efforts to resume travel, with some passengers spending the night on airport floors.
By Saturday afternoon, flight-tracking website FlightAware reported more than 18,800 delays and 6,181 cancellations nationwide. Those figures included 365 delays and 195 cancellations at Los Angeles International Airport, 60 delays and 58 cancellations at John Wayne Airport, 44 delays and 23 cancellations at Hollywood/Burbank Airport, and 29 delays and 14 cancellations at Long Beach Airport.
At Ontario International Airport, Mark Araujo-Levinson was reconsidering his trip to Sacramento for the Wretched Rites heavy metal festival. Imprecation, the band he most wanted to see, could no longer attend, nor could a friend traveling from Denver. His tickets were not refundable. At 10 a.m. Saturday, a Southwest Airlines gate agent announced another setback: the Sacramento flight was delayed.
Tracey Lesch of Redlands had planned to leave Ontario on Friday afternoon for a long weekend with her daughter in Denver. The FAA ground stop came shortly before her scheduled 1:10 p.m. departure. After repeated delays and hours in lines, she secured a seat on a Saturday flight departing at 7 a.m. That flight was canceled because no crew was available, she said.
For Dylan and Adilene Alegria, the disruption meant missing a friend’s wedding in Cabo San Lucas. Their Friday journey began in Washington state, but their connecting departure from LAX was delayed after the aircraft ahead of them struck a bird. Dylan said they then spent six hours aboard their plane. They arranged a hotel and an 11 a.m. Saturday flight, only to have that flight canceled during boarding. By noon, they were waiting in Terminal 6 to return to Washington.
Marine Staff Sgt. Coleman Doggett and his family spent 24 hours in Terminal 6 while relocating from Camp Pendleton to Honolulu. Traveling with his wife, Elise, who was eight months pregnant, their three children, a puppy, a cat, a tortoise and numerous bags, Doggett found a use for an air mattress they had packed after surrendering their house key. The family inflated it and settled into the terminal, where the children bounced on it and greeted passing travelers.
At John Wayne Airport, Chicago EV technician David Rodriguez waited with his wife and 11-month-old son after arriving at 7 a.m. Saturday. Nearly four hours later, he learned American Airlines had canceled their flight. He was told a co-pilot was unavailable, although the rest of the crew was in place. Rodriguez joined a rebooking line while his wife retrieved their checked luggage.
Magda Newton reached John Wayne Airport from Phoenix on Saturday after a delay of nearly two hours. She said difficulty obtaining information added to her frustration, with a roughly four-hour telephone wait to speak to the airline. According to Newton, the airline lacked a crew and staff sought volunteers to work. Passengers applauded once a crew had been assembled.
LAX, John Wayne, Hollywood/Burbank and Long Beach airports directed passengers to their airlines for flight-specific updates. Orange County Board Vice Chair Katrina Foley said John Wayne Airport had extended Friday’s nightly curfew from 10 p.m. to midnight to allow more departures.
