FAA issues ground stop for all DC-area airports due to equipment fire
fox5dc.com
fox5dc.com
I don't live here and not really sure what to do. Other flights seem to be leaving just fine.
Also the agencies I've searched understandably do not allow one-way trips that go beyond national norders.
Update; It seems like the few nearby locations I've checked are not allowing alternate drop locations
I did just find out that U-Haul has some that I can one-way rent, though they are expensive, closer to $750 USD, which is roughly the price of a next day flight.
Why would one normally take this route (13 hours and $178 while a flight is 2 hours and $213), scenery?
edit: and when I’m restless the train has much more space for light exercise or walking.
You don't have to be 25 to rent a uhaul.
There are uhaul franchises nearly everywhere, at least compared to regular car rental outfits.
And a note: uhaul has two fleets. The local only fleet, and the one way fleet. The one way fleet has more reliable/newer trucks. If you're doing a lot of miles locally and you ask nicely, they'll sometimes give you a truck from the one way fleet.
Good luck getting home!
Saves them from having to move a car from the airport themselves.
Probably car dependent.
It can all vary.
First step is get food / water, whatever you need to feel grounded. If you are calm, the agent who can help you will be calm and calm agents can work wonders. If you are angry, upset, frustrated, hungry, tired (all responsible responses to the situation) the agent will turn into a robot and not go out of their way to help you.
If you want to fly out; find a more senior agent (can be hard to do in a bigger airport). Don’t ask for one directly, instead look for the subtle signs: confident but slightly less put together clothing, someone dressed as a manager - but who is doing customer service, someone who is helping other agents, etc.
Then it’s a two step process:
1) ask them to put you on a standby list on a flight to get out of the airport, doesn’t matter where, just a pick a hub closer to your destination than the current one. It will take a couple tries, but at every flight, show up to the gate and stay until the door is closed and the airplane is pushed back. If you don’t make it, ask to be rolled over to the next one. Especially in weird situations there is constantly a couple people that do not show.
2) once you get to the other hub, kindly ask them to rebook you the rest of the way home.
Somewhat contrary perspective: the last time I was stuck in an airport indefinitely, everyone insisted everyone else stay put for indefinite lengths of time, because the delayed flight would leave “as soon as possible”. After several hours of this, I angrily insisted that it isn’t reasonable to keep people at a terminal hanging on indefinitely and that we’d all be better off if everyone could agree to reconvene at the next estimated arrival. A bunch of other passengers emphatically agreed, and the airline staff agreed then too. Then everyone went and had their food and drinks and whatever, and no one was angry anymore when the flight finally boarded.
At the end of the day it doesn't matter how tired, frustrated, upset, etc. you might be. Everyone else likely feels the same and statistically it's very likely one or several people on the flight are in a worse spot than you. That doesn't mean you start getting angry at a United desk agent in O'Hare because Potomac Approach's radio is down. They didn't do it, they don't have the power to fix it immediately, but they do have the power and the right to fix it for everyone else first.
Honey vs. vinegar and all that. There are plenty of ways to let customer service folks know that you're upset without getting angry at them. Another comment in this thread puts it very well: "it can be very beneficial to override [(completely understandable) frustration/anger], and it'll immediately make you easier to deal with." Any time a flight is cancelled the agent immediately has 100-400 people to deal with. Half of them will be downright pissed right off the bat. When they only have 3 open seats on the next flight, they are not giving them out to the people screaming the loudest.
A lot of the folks around me seemed to resonate with “you can’t hold us here indefinitely” and the staff response was very agreeable. I don’t like that I expressed it angrily, but I don’t think anyone in this scenario took it as vinegar, just saying what many people had already been thinking for hours already.
You can safely ignore other passengers, but if the gate agent tells you to stay put because the flight may board and leave at any time, you ought to stay within hearing distance of the gate.
Once my flight was delayed for a few hours due to an equipment problem, they told us to come back in 2 hours... then we found out that the flight crew timed out and they were bringing in another crew. The gate agents told everyone to stay at the gate because they were going to board as soon as the new crew was there. And indeed, 45 minutes later they announced we were boarding and 20 minutes after that they closed the doors and we departed... with a lot of empty seats (not sure if those people rebooked, or missed the flight)
They were framing it like the scenario you describe, but they held everyone there at the gate repeating this and revising the estimates for more than six hours IIRC. And I guess if they had flown out ahead of that last revised estimate it would’ve been too bad for me and everyone else who felt relieved to go somewhere else for the half hour or so we had to roam around, but thankfully they were just starting boarding when we all wandered back.
While I understand the rationale behind the calm approach, it doesn't completely align with my personal experiences. Initially, one might try to adopt a composed demeanor, but if the situation calls for it, projecting your genuine concern, frustration, and urgency can actually serve as a catalyst to motivate the staff to address your situation more effectively.
I think the broader point is that it can be very beneficial to override these feelings, and it’ll immediately make you easier to deal with than most of the other customers, which can lead you to better outcomes.
Was a road warrior for many years, and calm always got me the outcomes I needed. Airport staff already know you’re stressed and strapped for time. Everyone at the airport is. This is not to say that you shouldn’t be form and stand up for yourself.
Whenever I've had a role helping the general public ("customers") and started expressing "urgency" without being decently collected (rude, pushy, yelling, etc)... I've always gone out of my way to help them as little as possible, being technically nice while not being so, and merely making sure I didn't get blowback for it.
It isn't like the customer service folks don't feel for you at all: Your issue, though, is pretty run-of-the-mill for the employee, though. There is often limited actions that they can do. Sure, you'd like to have (x), but there is literally no option on the computer that allows me to do (x).
Go the ticket counter and talk to the person about hotel.
After a cancellation due to bad weather, I was once given the option of a pretty ridiculous connection (5 hours cross-continent in the wrong direction before proceeding towards my destination) and getting a hotel at my own expense (the airline did give me a 10% off voucher though!) and flying on the next day.
DONT
It is a massive cluster ** now.
Twin storms in Northeast, FL panhandle, and hurricane advisories all over TX and TN. Now DC doesnt want to be left behind with their own bizarro calamity claim.
Crew are steanded at random airports and no one is taking off.
Storms will continue for the next 3 THREE days.
Do yourself a favor, call your airline, and ask them to change your flight to next week ASAP.
Your mind will thank you later.
I'm not sure I've ever been traveling for any reason where I have the flexibility to shift my trip by a full week on short notice.
…
> Earlier reports claimed a fire at Potomac Consolidated Terminal RADAR Approach Control (TRACON) impacted air traffic, but an FAA representative told FOX 5 there was no fire.
Was there a fire or not?!
[Map](https://maps.app.goo.gl/q2tU5nd7wDB8X5ko7?g_st=ic)
[The View](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsedKJtgoG8/?igshid=MzRlODBiN...)
if you're stranded at IAD check out the nearby Udvar-Hazy Center (air & space).
> According to the FAA, air traffic was impacted due to a fire at Potomac Consolidated Terminal RADAR Approach Control (TRACON).
> Earlier reports claimed a fire at Potomac Consolidated Terminal RADAR Approach Control (TRACON) impacted air traffic, but an FAA representative told FOX 5 there was no fire.
Well?
But yeah, there's understandably no chill in this area with regards to airspace monitoring. An errant drone merits an investigation around here, I'm sure when the radar went out people were freaking out.
This is beyond security concerns-- radar makes things a whole lot safer and greatly lowers ATC workload. A ground stop pretty much immediately lowers workload and enables more manual oversight of the flights that are already in the area.