Massive US flight groundings triggered by fiber cut, circuit failure as UN General Assembly meets
The flights were halted on the day that 130 world leaders and dozens of ministers were arriving in New York for the annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
On Monday, thousands of flights were grounded across the United States due to a failed telecommunications circuit and a severed fiber-optic cable, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The disruption forced a halt to incoming flights at major airports in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Newark. The Federal Aviation Administration halted traffic at all three New York-area airports and the two smaller ones, as well as Newark and Teterboro in New Jersey.
Flight delays and cancellations totaled over 5,600 US flights, including 1,200 at the three New York-area airports. More than 100 flights were diverted to other locations. The issue highlighted the fragility of the aging US air traffic control system, which Congress had earmarked $12.5 billion for upgrades the previous year. The telecom lines were repaired, and airport operations in the Northeast began resuming several hours after the disruptions.
The failed circuit was located at a Philadelphia air traffic control facility, while a backup fiber line's break required 13 hours to repair. Verizon confirmed that its fiber cable running near an Amtrak rail line in New Jersey had been cut, but its facilities remained functional up to that point. The Philadelphia facility, which guides air traffic in and out of Newark Airport, had faced significant communications outages in May 2025.
The FAA estimated that an additional $17.5 billion was needed to complete the system upgrades Congress approved last year.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
