THE United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop on departing flights on Friday after a major disruption to the country's air traffic control system caused thousands of cancellations and left tens of thousands of travellers stranded.
Although departures were allowed to resume, aviation officials continued working to resolve operational problems following the disruption, which affected flight operations across the country.
The disruption prompted the FAA to halt departures nationwide, creating widespread delays and cancellations at airports as airlines struggled to manage the impact on passengers and flight schedules.
At a White House briefing, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the disruption to overloaded telecommunications equipment, including switches and routers used by the air traffic control system.
Reuters cited Duffy saying the equipment had begun producing inconsistent data, affecting the reliability of radar and communications systems at air traffic control centres across the country.
He added the system's instability prompted officials to halt departures as a precaution, stressing that the decision was taken to protect aviation safety.
He called for US$50 billion to modernise the country's air traffic control infrastructure, describing the investment as urgent in view of the system's ageing technology and recurring operational problems.
The disruption was also linked to a telecommunications network operated by L3Harris Technologies, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The network handles radio frequencies used by air traffic controllers to communicate with pilots, making it a critical component of the country's aviation communications infrastructure.
However, officials had not publicly established the precise technical cause of the failure or confirmed whether the reported network problems were directly responsible for the nationwide outage.
President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication that the disruption resulted from a cyberattack.
Mullin sought to reassure the public that the incident did not involve a national security threat, while officials continued investigating the technical failure.
More than 4,700 flights were cancelled and about 10,000 delayed on Friday, according to FlightRadar24. A further 700 cancellations had already been recorded for Saturday, highlighting the disruption's potential to affect airline operations beyond the initial shutdown.
Aviation analysts warned that restoring normal schedules could take several days as airlines worked to reposition aircraft and crews displaced by the grounding.
The incident has renewed scrutiny of the ageing US air traffic control system, which has faced persistent challenges involving outdated equipment, communications failures and shortages of air traffic controllers.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been working to modernise its infrastructure, with Congress approving US$12.5 billion in funding in July 2025 for improvements to air traffic control technology and recruitment of additional controllers.
However, the administration has sought further funding, with the White House and Transportation Department separately urging Congress to approve an additional US$30.1 billion for aviation infrastructure modernisation.
The proposed investment includes upgrades to air traffic control automation systems, controller workstations, telecommunications infrastructure and airport facilities.
The FAA has also acknowledged its reliance on legacy technology, including older computer systems and equipment for which replacement parts can be difficult to obtain.
In an indication of the scale of the modernisation challenge, the agency has said it plans to replace floppy disks still used for weather and other critical information at more than 400 air traffic control facilities by the end of 2028.
Friday's shutdown was the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the September 11, 2001, attacks, underscoring the severity of the communications failure.
The previous nationwide halt occurred in January 2023, when the FAA suspended domestic departures for about 90 minutes following a failure involving its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which provides pilots with essential safety information.
The latest disruption lasted more than four hours, marking a significant interruption to the country's aviation network and intensifying calls for a comprehensive overhaul of its air traffic control infrastructure. - November 14, 2026
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