$50 billion overhaul sought after nationwide flight halt as Democrats push back on Duffy demand to upgrade traffic systems

Upgrade failure halted flights

Federal officials said cascading communications failures began during a contractor’s upgrade to air traffic control equipment. The work involved replacing copper wire with fiber optic cable. Duffy said a router overload in a remote facility caused the system problem, but officials had not determined whether equipment or installation was at fault. The contractor, L3Harris, has worked with the Federal Aviation Administration for decades.

F.A.A. administrator Bryan Bedford said there was no evidence that a cyberattack or artificial intelligence caused the communications problems. The system returned online Friday evening, but the disruption continued to affect travel on Saturday.

Cancellations continued Saturday

At least 3,000 flights scheduled for Saturday were canceled, according to aviation data firm Cirium. A ground stop was issued for United Airlines flights at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s Friday nationwide ground stop was the third such halt this century and the second-longest. The longest followed the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001; a shorter stop in January 2023 followed an outage in the agency’s safety-alert system.

At San Francisco International Airport on Saturday afternoon, travelers were sleeping in gates and hallways as airport screens showed delays. Crowds were moderate, and many passengers waited in food courts and bars at Detroit airport.

Funding debate sharpens

Duffy asked for $50 billion on Friday to carry out what he called a complete overhaul of the aging air traffic control system. He placed much of the blame on Congress after flights were halted for hours.

Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to help fund air traffic communications upgrades. Republican lawmakers have introduced the Modern Skies Act, which would authorize another $30 billion, but the bill has no Democratic co-sponsors.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would seek additional F.A.A. funding in an aggressive legislative package for the lame-duck session of Congress.

Democrats demand accountability

Jeffries said the administration should work with Congress to direct taxpayer money where it is needed for aviation safety. He also accused it of firing and scapegoating federal workers, including women and people of color.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, the senior Democrat on the subcommittee overseeing aviation, called for a thorough investigation. Duffy said Friday that the issues were not partisan.