Flights stopped at Newark, Philadelphia airports due to equipment outage: FAA

In a developing situation, flights have been halted at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania due to an equipment failure, as reported by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The exact timeline for resuming operations remains unknown. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford disclosed that a circuit breaker tripped at a Philadelphia air traffic control facility on Monday morning.

When the backup system was activated, officials found out that the backup line had been severed at a New Jersey construction site. As a result, authorities in the Northeast closed the airspace for a minimum of 30 minutes to fix the circuit in Philadelphia. Consequently, ground stops were extended to include New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.

While airspace has since been reopened at JFK and LaGuardia, the Philadelphia circuit replacement is still not functional, leaving Newark and Philadelphia airports in a halt. Some inbound flights have been rerouted to alternative airports. United Airlines, with a major hub at Newark, reported that the "FAA technology outage affects all airlines in the Northeast."

The airline stated that flights originally bound for Newark have either been delayed at their departure point or redirected to other locations. United has provided a travel waiver to grant passengers flexibility in managing their travel. This report is being updated, and further information will be made available as more details emerge.