Copper wires to blame for US flight disruption, says Trump administration
Summary
A four-hour nationwide FAA ground stop on Friday disrupted air travel across the United States after maintenance work on communication lines caused problems in the air traffic control system. Officials said flights had resumed and expected schedules to return to normal by Sunday, though further delays were possible as airlines rebooked passengers.Key Facts
- FAA chief Bryan Bedford said 12,000 flights were cancelled on Friday.
- Bedford estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 of the 41,000 flights scheduled for Saturday would be cancelled; FlightAware had recorded more than 6,200 cancellations by Saturday evening.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said maintenance work to replace copper wire with fiber cable caused problems with aircraft communications and radar feeds.
- Duffy said the issue overloaded other routers in the air traffic control system.
- The nationwide ground stop lasted about four hours and was lifted at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday.
- The FAA said it reopened airspace after restoring full functionality at air traffic control facilities.
- Officials expected full flight schedules to resume by the close of business on Sunday, while a UK aviation official warned that follow-on disruption could continue as airlines rebooked passengers.
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