Over 2,000 flights cancelled as US airports grind to a halt, leaving thousands of travellers stranded

Backlog follows nationwide stoppage

Airlines across the U.S. worked on Saturday to clear delayed travel after the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years. More than 2,000 flights were cancelled. Trump administration officials said new technology being added to the air traffic control system overloaded older equipment. They linked the outage to intermittent communications and radar gaps that prompted the shutdown.

Officials said the disruption might continue for days, but expected the system to be operating normally in time for Thanksgiving travel. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said more than 3,000 flights landed safely on Friday and that no one was in danger.

Passengers face long waits

Emily Brown and her 14-year-old daughter waited more than four hours at Dallas airport on Friday for a flight to Columbus, Ohio, before abandoning the trip. Brown said they had been told to wait for a gate to open.

Brown said her daughter had saved to buy her own ticket and planned the weekend. She ended up calling her friend in tears, and Brown said they did not know when they would be able to travel.

Teams and travellers change plans

At airports around the country, passengers watched delay screens or sought buses and trains to reach their destinations. Some passed the time singing. Sports teams adjusted start times, looked for hotel rooms, changed flights and chartered buses. Universities affected included Baylor, Washington, Kansas State, Minnesota and No. 19 Ole Miss, which planned to fly on Saturday morning for its game against Oklahoma.

Officials explain equipment failure

Mullin said the system was reviewed and rebooted after the problem. Transportation Secretary Duffy said the new equipment that had been deployed did not fail; he described the affected components as legacy equipment.

Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo, a former United Airlines pilot, said the key difference this time was the nationwide scale, which left controllers unable to reliably communicate with pilots. He said flights must remain grounded when that communication cannot be assured.