# Ground stop stranded her flight, so she drove to Vegas instead

> When the FAA grounded all US flights, Vanessa Santos ditched the airport and hitched a ride to her conference 300 miles away.
- Title: Ground stop stranded her flight, so she drove to Vegas instead
- Summary: When the FAA grounded all US flights, Vanessa Santos ditched the airport and hitched a ride to her conference 300 miles away.
- Keywords: vanessa santos, southwest airlines, faa ground stop, phoenix, las vegas, business conference, Business Insider
- Source: Business Insider — https://businessinsider.com/ground-stop-canceled-flight-vegas-business-conference-fun-road-trip-2026-11
- Author: Jane Ridley
- Published: 2026-11-14T07:22:15.207+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: vanessa santos, southwest airlines, faa ground stop, phoenix, las vegas, business conference, business, technology
## Flight delayed, then grounded
Vanessa Santos, a business consultant from Phoenix, boarded a 1:45 p.m. Southwest Airlines flight to Las Vegas when the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all US flights.
## Passengers deplaned and panicked
After sitting at the gate for forty-five minutes, passengers were told to deplane. A man near Santos said, "This hasn't happened since 9/11." People began asking whether to rebook.

> This hasn't happened since 9/11.
## She couldn't let her friend down
Santos was due to speak at her friend Alexis's business conference the next morning. She couldn't think of anything worse than letting Alexis down after months of planning.
## A friend offered a ride
Santos texted her friend Marisol, who was driving to Las Vegas and had room in her Kia SUV. No rental cars were available, so Santos accepted the offer immediately.
## Six hours to cover three hundred miles
Marisol's husband Francisco drove with Marisol up front. Santos and Marisol's friend Jess sat in the back. They stopped at Buc-ee's and In-N-Out, sang nineties hip-hop, and pulled over when it rained hard.
## She made it to her panel
The journey took seven hours including breaks to cover three hundred miles. It was Friday the thirteenth, unlucky for stranded travelers but a pretty awesome day for Santos, who moderated her panel.
## Key takeaway

A business consultant from Phoenix drove six hours to Las Vegas with friends after a nationwide FAA ground stop cancelled her Southwest Airlines flight to a conference.