US air travel disruptions persist for third day

Air travel disruptions persisted for a third consecutive day in the United States, with more than 5,200 flights affected on Sunday alone. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy anticipated flights would return to normal by Monday, despite airlines rushing to restore schedules following a systemwide ground stop. Over 1,600 flights were canceled nationwide on Sunday, with nearly 3,600 delayed. Airlines canceled more than 6,400 US flights on Saturday, exacerbating the issue.

A Transportation Department spokesperson denied allegations of a cyberattack or malicious intent, stating the cause remained unclear. Despite this, the Federal Aviation Administration attributed the disruptions to a nationwide ground stop implemented on Friday, which halted nearly all departing flights for almost five hours. This halt was the longest in the US since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

The problem stemmed from a new router installed at an FAA facility in Arkansas, which overloaded air traffic control centers across the country due to a flood of data. The FAA disabled the faulty router and 60 similar ones, but the root cause remains unknown.

Duffy attributed the issue to aging technology and a shortage of air traffic controllers, calling for $50 billion in funding for air traffic control system upgrades, up from his initial request of $30 billion. However, critics argue that the $12.5 billion allocated in 2025 remains largely unspent, questioning the need for additional funding.