Stranded at Portland Airport by Nationwide FAA Ground Stop, Family Paid $800 to Drive Home

PORTLAND, Ore. — A family at Portland International Airport (PDX) who were trying to get home to San Diego on Friday ended up paying $800 for a rental car when a nationwide Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ground stop disrupted flights.

Family Trying to Return to San Diego Paid $800 After Struggling to Find a Rental Car at PDX

FOX 12 spoke to several passengers who were struggling to find ways to continue their journeys after the disruption.

One of them, Najai Lopez, who was travelling with her family, said her husband had spent hours trying to secure a rental car. When he finally found one, the available options were limited and expensive.

A minivan or a Toyota Tacoma, with prices reaching $800 to $900, were available, but with only three people travelling, they had little use for larger vehicles. Lopez’s family eventually had no choice but to take the $800 option to get home.

Ground Stop After Communications Problems Disrupted Flights Nationwide Ended Friday Evening

The FAA lifted the nationwide ground stop on Friday evening, after communications issues disrupted flights across the country.

The nation’s top homeland security official attributed Friday’s disruption to a telecommunications outage. There was no indication that the communications failure was linked to a cyberattack.

The incident was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a malfunction in a key FAA computer system caused widespread disruption. The only earlier nationwide stoppage was in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The ground stop was lifted shortly after 5 p.m. PST Friday, but many PDX flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday had still been cancelled.

Alaska’s Waiver Covers Eligible November 13–14 Flights With Rebooking Through November 17

For eligible passengers affected by Friday’s flight disruption, Alaska Airlines has now introduced a travel waiver for qualifying tickets bought on or before November 13 for travel on November 13 and 14. Travellers must change or cancel their original booking before the scheduled departure time.

Passengers can change their bookings without paying a change fee and there’s no difference in fare for replacement travel through November 17, as long as the passenger remains in the same cabin. Additional taxes may apply.

The waiver applies only to tickets issued by Alaska Airlines, identifiable by a 13-digit ticket number beginning with the airline’s code, 027.