What Travelers Should Know About Continued Flight Disruptions After Ground Stop
Disruptions Continued Saturday
The effects of Friday evening’s nationwide ground stop continued into Saturday. Airlines canceled thousands of flights as airports struggled to recover, after the disruption stranded thousands of passengers and caused widespread delays.
Bryan Bedford, who leads the Federal Aviation Administration, said the air traffic control system was expected to be back to normal by Sunday night. Restoring flight schedules could take several days.
Upgrade Linked To Failures
Federal officials said L3Harris, a contractor that manages the F.A.A.’s telecommunications network, carried out a standard upgrade at a remote air traffic location. The routine work replaced copper wire with fiber optic cable and was expected to cause no significant disruption, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
The switch overwhelmed the system with data it could not handle, causing communications failures across facilities that manage national airspace. Officials issued a rare nationwide ground stop for hours after the problems spread.
Responsibility Still Unclear
Administration officials are still determining whether L3Harris or faulty equipment was responsible. Federal officials have called for congressional funding to help prevent similar failures.
Key points
- Thousands of passengers were stranded by Friday’s nationwide ground stop.
- Airlines canceled thousands of flights as disruption continued into Saturday.
- The F.A.A. expected air traffic control to recover by Sunday night, while schedules could take several days.
- Officials have not determined responsibility and say there is no evidence of a cyberattack.