My flight was grounded during the FAA shutdown. Instead of waiting at the airport, I drove 300 miles with friends.

Vanessa Santos was set to fly from Phoenix to Las Vegas for a business conference. She got caught up in the nationwide ground stop and thought she'd miss the event. Santos got off the plane and was lucky enough to hop a ride, driving six hours to her destination. This story is based on an interview with Vanessa Santos, 43, a business consultant for female founders from Phoenix. It has been edited for length and clarity. I got a message on the app that my 1:45 p.m. Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix was slightly delayed, giving me a chance to dash to Starbucks. The delay was longer than expected. Then, as we finally boarded the plane, I overheard the gate agent telling another employee something about a ground stop. We were told to deplane A man sitting across from me looked alarmed. "This hasn't happened since 9/11," he said. We sat at the gate for 45 minutes, then were told to deplane. The announcer said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had grounded all US flights.

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