Nationwide flight grounding causes frustration for Fargo travelers

Lobby in Hector International Airport on November 13th, 2026 (KFGO News photo / Jake Anderson FARGO (KFGO) – Travelers at Hector International Airport in Fargo faced delays Friday as a nationwide grounding of airline flights disrupted travel across the country. Among those affected was Zach Scott, who was trying to fly home to Dallas-Fort Worth after spending a little more than a week visiting family in Fargo. Scott said he arrived at the airport around 3:30 p.m., just as news of the nationwide disruptions was making headlines. Since then, he watched his flight get pushed back repeatedly. “It’s just been kind of frustrating, to say the least,” Scott said. “Show up, ready to, you know, sit and get my flight, and it keeps on getting delayed 30 minutes, 30 minutes.” Del Rae Williams, the former mayor of Moorhead, was waiting at the airport Friday afternoon for a vacation flight. Despite the sudden travel halt, Williams said she feels fortunate compared to other flyers. “I’m lucky that I’m not on the tarmac or somewhere else,” Williams said. “We’re home. You know, we can always go home.” Still, the widespread shutdown got her thinking about how heavily people rely on computers. She pointed to a recent Outlook outage as another example of sudden tech disruptions. “I would think when you have this and we had the Outlook thing, how vulnerable we are to tech things that could happen,” Williams said. The Municipal Airport Authority said for the most up-to-date information, passengers should check directly with their airlines for any departure or arrival updates. Scott followed updates online, but said the uncertainty made an already frustrating travel day even more difficult. “Hopefully they don’t have to sit here another day or two because, you know, people have places to be, I’m sure. I know I do,” Scott said.