ATLANTA, GA — Hundreds of Delta Air Lines passengers from two flights finally arrived in Atlanta nearly 15 hours late.
One jet flying from Cabo San Lucas was about to land at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Thursday night when it was diverted to Montgomery, Alabama. There, it sat all night long.
The other flight was coming from Mexico City and also diverted to Montgomery.
WSB-TV reporter Bryan Mims met passengers as they stepped into the international terminal, frustrated and exhausted.
Alex Alvarez recorded video of his fellow passengers on Delta Flight 599 from Mexico City in Montgomery’s regional airport after a night spent on the tarmac. Storms led to a ground stop in Atlanta, so the plane circled for a while then landed in Montgomery, which does not have Customs and Border Protection staffing.
A Delta spokesman says the plane could not land in Birmingham, which does have Customs staff, because of severe weather there.
“We understand bad weather. That’s not an issue,” Alvarez said. “I think everything that happened after that, that’s the problem.”
His plane landed in Montgomery around 10:20 p.m. Thursday. Its 147 passengers had to stay onboard until 5:15 a.m., when they were allowed off the plane but restricted to stay at the gate.
Delta Flight 1828 from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, faced the same situation. FlightAware showed the plane circling and veering on its path.
Christine Milliken was among the 150 passengers on board.
“It was quite nerve wracking,” she said. “I think my nerves are very shot from all the turbulence and the back and forth and the circling.”
Delta says severe weather lingered over Montgomery, and the flight crews exceeded their permitted duty hours, so other crews needed to come in.
“I almost, almost want to cry just because I’m so exhausted, physically exhausted,” Milliken said. “I haven’t slept in like 26 hours.”
“We fell short of how we aspire to serve and care for our customers amid thunderstorms in the Southeast U.S. Thursday evening,” a Delta spokesperson said. “We are reaching out to each customer with a full refund of their booking.”
Delta says it is conducting a “thorough review” to prevent an outcome like this again.
©2025 Cox Media Group
