US flights restart after nationwide halt leaves thousands of services cancelled
Flights began resuming on Saturday after a four-hour nationwide ground stop, but authorities warned that restoring normal service would take time.
By Amir Navarro ·
Flights in the United States began restarting on Saturday following a nationwide ground stop that disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers and led to almost 6,000 cancellations. Authorities cautioned that the resumption of flights would not bring an immediate return to normal schedules after hours of confusion at airports across the country.
The halt lasted about four hours before being lifted on Friday at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time, or 01:15 GMT on Saturday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration reopened the airspace after air traffic control facilities regained full functionality. He warned that recovery would take time and said passenger safety remained the priority.
Administration officials attributed the disruption to telecommunications problems involving equipment that was decades old. Duffy described a system reliant on ageing switches, routers and copper lines from the 1980s, saying it had become overloaded and failed across the country. On Thursday, he had formally requested $30.1 billion from Congress to modernise air traffic control. He renewed his appeal for funding as the restrictions were lifted.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officials had found no evidence of a cyberattack or an attack involving artificial intelligence. He also dismissed any link to the Microsoft outage earlier in the week that had disrupted email access for millions of users, public services and businesses worldwide. Officials said there was no evidence of foul play in the aviation disruption.
Flight-tracking platform FlightAware recorded nearly 6,000 cancelled flights, including international services. Airport footage showed crowded gates and aircraft waiting on taxiways. Some passengers were taken off planes shortly before departure, while airline workers appeared uncertain about what was happening. Travellers reported receiving explanations involving wind, and some departure boards and mobile boarding passes displayed information that did not reflect their situation.
At New York's LaGuardia Airport, Tiara Johnson was trying to reach Orlando for a concert with a friend. She told AFP that her departure had repeatedly slipped, moving from 7:55 to 8:30, then 9:30 and finally 10:30. With no certainty about when they would leave, she described feeling frustrated and stuck as their plans changed.
In Las Vegas, passengers seeking other ways home formed long queues at rental car counters. Joseph Anderson, 72, who was travelling to Oakland, California, weighed rescheduling against driving and worried that the disruption could also crowd highways. Susan Sardina told AFP she had already boarded her Orange County flight when passengers were instructed to get off. Kathy Sommers, whose flight home was cancelled, said friends were returning to collect her for another night together.
Nationwide ground stops are rare. The disruption was only the second such alert in US airspace since the September 2001 attacks, when flights were halted for days. The other occurred in January 2023 after a system used to notify pilots failed.
