FAA outage that grounded flights could have "snowball" effect
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The outage to the FAA's Notice to Air Missions System could have a "snowball" effect on air travel, according to our anchor with years of experience in the airline industry.
CBS Philadelphia anchor Jim Donovan was in our newscasts Wednesday morning explaining how the outage would impact travel. Flights throughout the day could be impacted as airlines are working right now with travelers stranded during the morning outage.
"I don't recall a nationwide stoppage like this in years," Donovan said. "9/11 was the only thing that I remember. Sometimes that will happen regionally, there will be a problem in one part of the country. But nothing like this, and this is definitely going to have a residual effect throughout the rest of the day."
At one point there were 4,000 delayed flights in the U.S., according to tracking website FlightAware.
Some travelers at Philadelphia International Airport told CBS Philadelphia they were not getting much information from the airlines and found out about the delays via Twitter or news outlets.
Some airlines are now working through a backlog of stranded customers. At least one, United, was offering travel waivers to customers impacted when flights were grounded.
Donovan said it could take some time for airlines to get back up to speed after flights were grounded.
"These airlines and the crews have to get the planes back in order, in order to continue," Donovan said. "You've got all these folks that are going to be missing their connections."