Thousands of US flights canceled, delayed as air travel system slowly recovers from shutdown

On Saturday, over 4,000 US flights were canceled and 3,000 delayed due to a nationwide shutdown that lasted nearly five hours, marking the longest such disruption since the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed the ground stop following a massive communications failure, which led to the cancellation of nearly 10,000 flights and delays of over 7,000 others.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the FAA was investigating whether the issue stemmed from incompetence, user error, installer error or faulty equipment from L3Harris, the contractor overseeing the network. The problem overloaded data at communications centers, causing communication issues with airplanes and radar disruptions.

Delta, United, and American Airlines canceled about 20% of their flights, while JetBlue canceled 40%. The ground stop was lifted on Friday night, but the impact on passengers was far from over, with tens of thousands still stranded at airports. Airlines scrambled to clear airports and reposition flight crews, while major airports struggled to handle the influx of diverted flights.

Many college football teams were also affected, finding it difficult to reach games. Earlier in the week, the White House and Department of Transportation had urged Congress to approve $30.1 billion for upgrading air traffic control systems, with Transportation Secretary Duffy calling for $50 billion to address the issue. The latest incident added to the growing strain on a US air traffic control system plagued by aging technology, equipment, and communications, coupled with a shortage of thousands of controllers.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated there was no evidence of a cyberattack or rogue AI system, though investigators had not ruled out these possibilities.