The United States has lifted a nationwide ground stop that temporarily halted departing flights across the country following a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control centers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the restrictions on Friday evening, allowing flights to gradually resume after the shutdown disrupted thousands of departures and left passengers stranded at airports. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that American airspace had reopened at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time.
The grounding began at approximately 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday and lasted more than four hours, marking the longest nationwide flight shutdown in the United States in 25 years and the most extensive since the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to flight-tracking data cited by Reuters, more than 4,700 flights were cancelled and approximately 10,000 delayed on Friday. Another 700 cancellations had already been recorded for Saturday, raising concerns about continued disruption to domestic and international travel.
The FAA attributed the shutdown to a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control centers across the country. The technical failure disrupted communications and radar information used by controllers to coordinate aircraft movements, prompting authorities to halt departures as a precautionary safety measure. At least 827 flights were diverted during the disruption, while more than 3,000 aircraft were safely brought to the ground.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the outage exposed weaknesses in the country’s aging air traffic control infrastructure, explaining that outdated equipment and overloaded routers contributed to inconsistencies in the information received by air traffic control centers. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officials had found no indication that the incident resulted from a cyberattack or deliberate hostile activity.
Although the nationwide restrictions have been lifted, the effects of the shutdown are expected to extend beyond Friday. Airlines must reorganize aircraft and crew schedules after thousands of flights were cancelled, delayed or diverted. The disruption also affected international connections, with some flights from the United Kingdom to the United States delayed or cancelled on Saturday morning.
The disruption also affected sports teams travelling to competitions across the country. According to the Associated Press, several university teams had to arrange alternative transportation, including chartered buses, while some sporting events were rescheduled. Passengers were warned to expect further delays as airlines work through the backlog and return aircraft to their scheduled routes.
Officials warn that outdated systems could cause further outages, renewing concerns about the reliability of the US air traffic control system. Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to support improvements to air traffic control infrastructure, but officials say additional funding is needed to complete the modernization project. The FAA’s modernization efforts are ongoing, but Friday’s nationwide shutdown highlighted the risks posed by technical failures in systems responsible for coordinating air traffic across the United States.
Key points
- The US air traffic control system faces repeated equipment failures, communications problems and staffing shortages.
- The outage exposed weaknesses in the country’s aging air traffic control infrastructure.
- Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to support improvements to air traffic control infrastructure.
