Hilo airport experienced short delays due to national ground stop, but Hawaiʻi-bound flyers faced canceled flights

With only one flight from Las Vegas on the schedule today, the Hilo International Airport remained calm during the national ground stop of all flights that ended after 4 1/2 hours at 3:19 p.m. on Friday. 

While this stoppage left most airports on the mainland in chaos, it was relatively calm at the Big Island airport. Staff said the longest delayed departure was about 40 minutes. 

But one traveler said the terminal inside Daniel K. Inouye Airport in Honolulu was crowded since there were mainland flights that were canceled or delayed.

Many travelers were flying to Hilo on Friday, the day before the Emerald Princess cruise departs Hilo port at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

“The cruise line tells passengers to get to their departure city the day before in case there are any problems with flights,” traveler Debra Vance said. “We’re lucky that our flight from Los Angeles left for Honolulu early this morning.”

There also was a temporary stop of flights from Hawaiʻi to the West Coast due to debris caused by a SpaceX launch on Friday afternoon that have now resumed, the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation said on its Facebook page.

While the airports in Hawaiʻi had few disruptions, with interisland flights unaffected by the ground stop, Hawaiʻi residents on their way home from the mainland and elsewhere faced many more problems. 

Puna resident Sean OʻPhelan was boarding a flight around 1:15 p.m. Pacific time to fly from San Diego to Honolulu after visiting his hometown in Minnesota for a few weeks. 

“They grounded right at boarding and did not pass along any information,” OʻPhelan said. “I changed my flight in the app, exited the terminal, had to find where my bags were and got a hostel for the night in San Diego.”

Since OʻPhelan’s flight was completely canceled, he had to find overnight accommodations that he hopes will be reimbursed by the airline. 

“It was really chaotic, people were a little scared but mostly annoyed at the inconveniences with little information,” OʻPhelan said. 

Laurie Lyons-Makaimoku was supposed to fly from Mexico to Seattle for a connection to Kailua-Kona but her plane sat on the tarmac for more than six hours. 

“We finally got off and now I can’t get home until Sunday night,” she said. “I have  to take a short flight tomorrow to Mexico City and stay there tomorrow night. It’s difficult because my family was expecting me home and now it’s going to be another 48 hours until I see them.”