DETROIT – Hundreds of travelers were stranded Friday morning at Detroit Metro Airport after a computer outage prompted a ground stop for Delta flights.
UPDATE: Ground delay lifted, no active alerts at DTW
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the outage as the cause of the disruption.
Progress has been made, and the Federal Aviation Administration has now declared it a “ground delay,” with Delta flights at DTW experiencing an average delay of 2 hours and 40 minutes.
---> Hundreds of people stuck at Detroit Metro Airport as Delta flights delayed hours
While the problem is impacting DTW directly, the ground delay has had a ripple effect nationwide as Detroit Metro is one of the largest Delta hubs in the country.
Even WDIV’s own vice president and general manager, Bob Ellis, has been caught up in the chaos. Ellis joined Local 4 Live from LaGuardia Airport in New York City, where he has been delayed trying to return to Detroit for afternoon meetings.
“I arrived here for what was a 9:20 a.m. scheduled departure,” Ellis said. “We just got delayed from 9:20 to 10:30, but that just occurred here in the last five minutes.”
Ellis noted that while his delay is not as severe as some, many travelers are left standing and wondering what will happen next.
“The biggest issue here on this end is just that up until a minute or two ago, we were told we were going to be on time,” he said. “That’s happening in other places, too. So it’s good to get some information, albeit not what we want to hear, but this flight’s just delayed a little more than an hour.”
Despite the inconvenience, Ellis said travelers at LaGuardia are showing patience and understanding.
“You know, it’s funny, you end up befriending folks standing here waiting to get information,” Ellis said. “We thankfully didn’t arrive here at 4:50 this morning, as the family that Priya talked to did, so it’s a bit of an inconvenience at this point. Now, as the day wears on, you know, let’s see. Let’s see how people’s patience will be at that moment, but right now, folks are pretty understanding.”