US Air Travel Disruptions to Persist Until Late Sunday

The US air travel system is gradually recovering from a nationwide flight shutdown caused by issues with air traffic communications, but disruptions are expected to persist until late Sunday. According to FlightAware, an aviation website, over 6,400 US flights were canceled and more than 8,000 were delayed on Saturday as of 9:35 p.m. ET. This comes after about 9,200 flights were canceled and 7,500 delayed on Friday.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head, Bryan Bedford, said on Saturday that he expected airline operations to largely return to normal by late Sunday. He also apologized for the disruption, adding that the system remains stable. The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday that halted nearly all departing flights for almost five hours, the longest nationwide halt to air travel since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The issue that led to the ground stop was traced to FAA contractor L3Harris' installation of at least one new router at a remote facility, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Duffy said on Saturday that the problem may have been caused by incompetence, user error, or a faulty router. The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union representing FAA safety employees, said the issue was isolated to two routers that were updated on Friday.

The union said that PASS-represented technicians were not involved in the upgrades that led to the ground stop. L3Harris said it took the issue seriously and is supporting the FAA in its investigation. The company's shares last traded down about 4% after hours on Friday. Overloaded communications centers caused the trouble, with air traffic control centers experiencing instability in radar and communications systems.

The router issue led to data overloading other communications centers, officials said. Duffy added that the issue affected communications at 17 of the FAA's 22 en route centers, which control aircraft during the cruise portion of a flight. Bedford said the FAA ordered the ground stop in case a center lost all communications. No facilities went dark, and nothing was fully lost, he added.

The disruption stranded some college football teams on Friday before games scheduled for Saturday. Airlines have issued travel waivers allowing passengers to rebook flights for later dates without cost. Though the FAA lifted the ground stop on Friday evening, the disruption for passengers was far from over, with tens of thousands of people stranded in airports.

The disruption is the latest sign of strain on a US air traffic control system beset by aging technology, equipment, and communications problems and a shortage of several thousand controllers. Duffy called on Friday for $50 billion in funding to upgrade air traffic control systems. House Speaker Mike Johnson supports approving more funding for air traffic this year, and US Representatives Rick Larsen and Andre Carson said their panels will hold the administration accountable for what happened.

Key points

• The FAA is working to determine the cause of the issue that led to the nationwide ground stop, which may have been caused by incompetence, user error, or a faulty router.
• The disruption is the latest sign of strain on a US air traffic control system beset by aging technology, equipment, and communications problems and a shortage of several thousand controllers.
• The FAA is seeking $50 billion in funding to upgrade air traffic control systems, up from an earlier request of $30 billion.