Pittsburgh airline travelers caught in nationwide disruption — Flight ban lifted

They were standing in the Southwest Airlines line considering canceling or rescheduling their flight as security announcements came over the public announcement system.

Official response and confirmed impact

Well before the flight ban was lifted, many travelers at Pittsburgh International were calm as they stayed glued to their cellphones messaging family and friends and constantly checking for updates.

Pittsburgh International Airport spokesman Bob Kerlik said there were no issues with travelers or staffers during the grounding.

“Certainly people were frustrated but everybody understood that this was a nationwide issue and did the best they could with the information that they had,” he said.

Kerlik said as many as 69 flights could have been impacted if the grounding continued through the end of the night.

About 30 flights were on the ground and five flights were diverted as of 8 p.m. Concession hours were extended to help stranded passengers.

Kerlik said the airport and TSA checkpoints remained open, and he encouraged passengers to check with their airlines on flight status.

He said those with Saturday morning flights should pay particular attention because of potential backlogs.