Trump admin warns air travellers of another messy day

The Trump administration warned on Sunday that the aviation chaos caused by the no-takeoff order could persist for another day, delaying the return to normal operations. Hundreds more flights were grounded, and concerns remained about how such a situation could occur in the world's largest economy, a nation renowned for its technological advancements. Officials attributed the major incident on Friday to inadequate work on upgrading air traffic control communication cables.

President Donald Trump ended his silence, but only to blame the previous administration under Joe Biden. He claimed he inherited a mess and criticized Congress, which his party had controlled for two years, for not approving funds to modernize the nation's outdated air traffic control system. The Biden Administration was called out by Trump for a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) disaster, with Trump stating that everything they touched turned out bad.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy clarified on Sunday that the return to normalcy would take until the following day, as airplanes and crews were misplaced due to Friday's events. Duffy dismissed calls for his resignation, asserting that he inherited an antiquated air traffic control infrastructure, including radar equipment from the 1960s.

As of Sunday morning, 1,460 flights within, into, or out of the United States had been canceled, according to flightaware.com. The Trump administration has pointed the finger at faulty replacement of old copper wire communication lines for Friday's ground stop, which is the second such incident since the 9/11 attacks. The ground stop not only disrupted US air travel but also highlighted the nation's aging infrastructure.

Duffy sought $50 billion in funding to upgrade and modernize the air traffic control system, urging Congress to act. However, Democrats argued that such measures could have been pursued under the previous Republican-controlled Congress.