'Such a mess': travelers stuck in Green Bay during hours-long ground stop

GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The hours-long ground stop threw a wrench in Friday travel plans, as people deal with cancellations and delays at Austin Straubel International Airport- Green Bay.

The Details

The ground stop occurred Friday due to a communications problem, according to U.S officials.

GRB said in a statement late Friday night that the airport is fully operational and ready to receive flights.

Passengers dealt with a wrench in their travel plans, as many departing flights were cancelled.

NBC 26 met a group of Packers fans who took an Uber from Chicago in order to get to Titletown in time for the weekend.

Early Friday evening, after the ground stop was announced, there was a line of people at GRB on their phones, waiting for any sort of information.

“I just hope it gets fixed, this is such a mess," traveler Sarah Gerber said.

Gerber was supposed to fly out of GRB Friday afternoon. She and her church group were on their way to a mission trip in Argentina.

She's a part of Destiny Church in De Pere.

“As we were getting information in, we thought okay, this is going to be much longer than a 10 minute delay," she said.

Gerber and her group had already boarded the plane when the ground stop began. They sat on the grounded plane for an hour and a half before being told to deboard.

“I mean what can you do, stressing about it won’t fix it, so we just have to roll with it," Gerber said.

It was a similar mentality for traveler Blake Malecha.

“It is what it is, that’s kind of how we’re approaching it," Malecha said. "Things happen. I guess we’re going to wait and find out.”

Malecha was on his way to Detroit. He said he had to make it there Friday evening for an event on Saturday.

“Hoping that things get fixed in short order, and it was just a quick computer error or things like that, but really we don’t have any details," he said.

Hours later, after Malecha and Gerber had left the airport, the ground stop was lifted.

Many flights remained cancelled, but there were a few flights out of Chicago that were scheduled to arrive at GRB late Friday night.

NBC 26 spoke with three passengers who didn't let the ground stop get in the way of their trip to Green Bay.

Kirk Boots, his son, Mark Boots, and his brother-in-law, Mitch McAlpine, were traveling from California on Friday.

The trio planned the trip for months, with the goal of seeing the Packers play at Lambeau.

"It's just a temple to football," McAlpine said of Lambeau.

They flew out of Los Angeles at 7 a.m. Friday morning, and they had a connecting flight through Chicago.

"We made it to Chicago pretty much without incident, then we heard the speakers saying there was an IT problem, or something like that he said," McAlpine said.

Like many passengers across the country, the three men were stuck. McAlpine said there were no rental cars available, so they thought of a different plan: Uber.

Along with a stranger they met at the Chicago airport, they paid nearly $300 for a three-hour Uber from Chicago to Green Bay.

"We were all jammed like sardines in the back of the car," McAlpine said.

Watch the broadcast story from after the ground stop was lifted:

They arrived in Green Bay around 8:00 p.m.

"Just seeing that big 'G', made it all worth it," Kirk said.

"We pulled in sight, and we saw that big 'G,' and we were like, there is a God, and he lives in Green Bay," McAlpine said.

They arrived shortly after the ground stop was lifted, but the group said they still had no regrets.

"I like to say that it's 'dad lore'," Mark said. "It makes it that much more fun, just the stuff we had to go through to get here. And now I think it's going to be a good game and a good time."

GRB released the following statement around 8 p.m., after the ground stop had been lifted:

"GRB remains fully staffed and operational, and is prepared to support any flights that airlines are able to depart. As carriers resume service, passengers may experience delays and are advised to monitor their flight status directly with their airline for the latest updates."