Travelers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport faced widespread disruptions Monday after an FAA ground stop led to delays and cancellations, including one international traveler whose flight to Rome, Italy, was canceled.
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An RDU spokesperson told ABC11 that a contractor cut a fiber-optic line near the FAA tower during a plumbing repair, leading to the outage. The tower was later back up and running.
Bill Hunt of Cary said he was under pressure to find another way to reach Europe in time for an important business meeting scheduled for the following morning.
“It’s a mess,” Hunt said.
After his flight was canceled, Hunt said he quickly worked to secure a seat on another international flight and arrange transportation to a different airport.
“They got me on that flight in Charlotte. So I just had to get to it because I couldn’t fly from here to Charlotte because everything’s canceled. So I had to get a ride, hitch a ride down there,” Hunt said.
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Other travelers at RDU also experienced delays during the afternoon because of the FAA ground stop.
John Haney, who was trying to return to Cincinnati, said his delay was manageable.
“It’s not what you want, but, you know, it’s not two hours. It’s not three hours. So we’ll take it,” Haney said.
Airport operations were significantly affected, with 212 delays reported at RDU Airport as of Monday afternoon. There were nine cancellations.
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ABC11 is The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner.
This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 10:14 PM.