US flight chaos persists after FAA glitch strands thousands
What's the story
Air travel in the United States is expected to remain disrupted till Sunday as airlines struggle to return to normal operations. A glitch in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) air traffic control communications system triggered the chaos. By Saturday evening, FlightAware reported that over 6,150 flights had been canceled and more than 7,300 delayed across the country.
Recovery timeline
Flight schedules unlikely to return to normal until late Sunday
FAA chief Bryan Bedford has said that flight schedules are unlikely to return to normal until late Sunday.
He apologized to passengers for the disruption and assured them that the aviation system remained stable.
The FAA is working with L3Harris, an FAA contractor involved in the installation of a new router at a remote facility, to investigate whether human error or faulty equipment caused this issue.
Disruption details
Router malfunction caused nationwide ground stop
The router malfunction caused data overloads at other communication centers, impacting radar and communication systems used by air traffic controllers.
This affected 17 of the FAA's 22 en route air traffic control centers, which manage aircraft during the cruising phase of flights.
The problem led to a nationwide ground stop on Friday, halting almost all departing flights for nearly five hours.
Airline impact
Major US carriers canceled nearly a quarter of their flights
Major US carriers such as Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines canceled nearly a quarter of their scheduled flights on Saturday.
JetBlue canceled almost 45% of its flights.
Despite the FAA lifting the nationwide ground stop on Friday evening, airlines continued to struggle with getting aircraft and crew back into position.
Network concerns
Disruption raises concerns about US air traffic control network
The disruption has sparked fresh concerns about the state of the US air traffic control network.
The system is under pressure from aging technology, equipment failures, and a shortage of thousands of air traffic controllers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has called for $50 billion in funding to modernize the system, up from his previous request of $30 billion.