The United States has ordered a nationwide grounding of flights following a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control centres, disrupting air travel across the country and leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the ground stop on Friday, citing extraordinary circumstances and safety concerns, as technicians worked to investigate the communication failure.
The disruption affected several major airports, including those in Atlanta, Washington DC, Miami, Los Angeles, New York and Houston, with passengers reporting delays, cancellations and uncertainty over their travel plans. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA had ordered the nationwide suspension of flights after a communication problem affected air traffic control centres across the country.
According to data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24, about 3,100 aircraft were already in the air and heading towards US airports, while no additional aircraft were taking off. Passengers aboard some arriving flights also reported being held on the tarmac, with aircraft unable to proceed to their designated gates.
The FAA later confirmed that a temporary telecommunications outage was responsible for the disruption, adding that all flights had been accounted for. The agency said in a statement that international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis. US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sought to reassure the public, saying there was no indication that the incident was an attack against the country.
Mullin added that everybody was safe and all flights had been accounted for. He repeatedly dismissed comparisons with the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, saying the incident was a telecommunications outage and much different.
Major airlines began announcing operational adjustments, with United Airlines saying new domestic flights would not depart while the ground stop remained in force. American Airlines said flights already in the air would continue to their destinations, but warned that disruptions to its regular schedule were expected for the remainder of the day.
The incident has also renewed attention on the state of America’s air traffic control infrastructure, with some US air traffic control systems being outdated and certain operations still relying on technologies such as floppy disks. Congress approved $12.5 billion last year for upgrades, while the FAA recently pledged to replace systems that still depend on floppy disks by the end of 2028.
Key points
- The US has grounded all flights nationwide due to a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control centres.
- The disruption affected several major airports, with passengers reporting delays, cancellations and uncertainty over their travel plans.
- The incident has renewed attention on the state of America’s air traffic control infrastructure.
