At Atlanta airport, traffic is beginning to resume very slowly on Friday evening. The display boards are flashing red: every line indicates cancelled flights.
At least 6,000 flights have been cancelled and hundreds of thousands of passengers have been affected. This is an extremely rare event that has paralyzed air traffic across the country.
As a precaution, the authorities grounded all aircraft. According to the U.S. government, communication problems caused by"old equipment"explain this measure.
The authorities first said the shutdown was for safety reasons, then that there was no need to worry about safety.
From the entrance of the terminal, travelers are sitting on the floor. Many are already preparing to sleep on the airport floor.
Passengers were also asked to get off their planes, while the resumption of traffic remains very slow.