Travelers at NYC-area airports dealing with residual delays, cancellations from nationwide ground stop

Airports across the United States, including in the New York City area, dealt with residual delays and cancellations Saturday after Friday's nationwide ground stop.

The ground stop disrupted flights for tens of thousands of people across the country.

According to a statement from Hochul and Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia, there were more than 800 cancellations and more than 600 delays at John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and New York Stewart International Airport on Friday.

"The Port Authority activated its Emergency Operations Center shortly after the ground stop began, working closely with airlines, terminal operators, and federal aviation officials to manage disruptions and assist affected passengers. Additional airport personnel and Port Authority Police officers were deployed to help manage terminal crowding and provide assistance. The Port Authority also made cots, blankets, pillows, baby formula and other essential supplies available to airline partners, while airport concessions remained open to serve affected travelers," the statement read, in part.

Hochul calls for Duffy to resign

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says contractor L3Harris was working to replace outdated copper communication lines with fiber optics when the system experienced a disruption. L3Harris says it's working with the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate what caused the ground stop.

Updating the coils in the telecommunication system is part of a $12.5 billion investment to modernize air traffic control and overall aviation infrastructure. Duffy says that project is 69% complete and is asking for billions in additional funding.

In a statement Saturday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul slammed Duffy and called for his resignation.

"From chronic air traffic controller shortages to repeated communications breakdowns, serious lapses in our aviation system have become a pattern on Sean Duffy's watch. Through it all, he's been more focused on starring in his own reality show than addressing the crisis at his agency," she said, in part. "With millions of Americans preparing to travel for the holidays, families deserve answers and confidence in the safety of our skies. Congress must launch a full investigation to determine what went wrong and ensure it never happens again. Sean Duffy must resign, or President Trump must remove him immediately."

CBS News New York reached out to the White House for a response, but we have not yet heard back.

"The nationwide breakdown yesterday was completely unacceptable. The American people deserve an effective, competent federal government, especially with the safety of our transportation system. Instead of investing in vanity projects like the ballroom, Trump and Secretary Duffy should prioritize modernizing our air traffic control system," New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a statement.

Flyers describe "nightmare" travel situation

Though Duffy said the nation's airports were back at full operations Saturday, the impact of the ground stop was still felt.

"We were scheduled for a celebrity cruise out of Miami to celebrate our 35th anniversary and with some people from our travel agency, and they're going to be there, but not me, not us," traveler Anna Damari said.

"I got up at 7:30 this morning, ran across town to Islip's airport, and ... we arrive and it's canceled," traveler Harold Bradley said.

"The second we booked our next flight, we walked outside and got a text that that flight was canceled," another traveler said.

"Just to get here has been like a nightmare," one visitor from Toronto said.

Her flight from Toronto to New York was already delayed due to weather Thursday when she was diverted to Chicago. By Friday, that turned into an overnight stay because of the FAA's ground stop. She finally landed at LaGuardia on Saturday morning.

"It was just sad to see families with their kids. Everyone's just sleeping on the floor, you know, on the chairs," she said. "That's all I heard at the airport, too, everyone's just yelling, 'What is going on?'"

She says she's just happy she made it to the city to celebrate her birthday, even if it was days later than planned.

"I'm not even looking back. I'm just here, and I'm just gonna enjoy being in New York for a little with my family," she said.

Tyrone Wilson traveled to New York from Davenport, Florida, to care for his father.

"I'll have to contact my boss to let him know that due to this situation with the flights, I won't be back to work until Tuesday morning," he said.

Hochul and Garcia said Port Authority is ready to deploy additional personnel and resources as needed in the coming days.

Duffy says flight schedules are expected to be back normal by peak holiday travel season.

Expert offers advice for impacted travelers

Experts say protections that customers have in moments like these depend on the airline.

"There is no federal regulation that requires airlines to provide that because this is out of their control," air travel expert Katy Nastro said.

If an airline offers a refund instead of a rescheduled flight, experts say the refund is always your safest option.

"If you don't necessarily need to travel and have been impacted today, take the refund," Nastro said.

Travel experts recommend rebooking for Monday to try to avoid another possibly hectic travel day on Sunday.