FAA Lifts US Ground Stop After Outage; 5,000 Flights Cancelled
The Federal Aviation Administration halted all US flights after a telecommunications failure at air traffic control centers. More than 5,000 flights were cancelled and almost 10,000 delayed before the grounding lifted. Officials said no one was in danger and have not ruled out any cause, including a cyberattack.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop at about 12:30 p.m. Australian Eastern time after a communications failure left flights grounded in "extraordinary circumstances" for hours. More than 5,000 flights were cancelled and almost 10,000 delayed as the effects spread around the globe.
Delays are expected to last a long time. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said the government would work with airlines to speed up flights, but admitted this would "take some time to unwind".
What the FAA said
The agency issued an advisory halting all flights across the country "under extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety". That was Friday in the US, Saturday morning in eastern Australia.
Duffy said the order followed "a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centres". About an hour later, the FAA described a "temporary telecommunications outage" in a post on X. It said every flight had been accounted for and international flights would be handled case by case.
The FAA told airlines the problem lay with network routers, according to an airline source. It is believed to have started at Chicago Midway International Airport and spread nationwide.
Cause still open
Duffy blamed routers becoming overwhelmed with data. He said the US relies on an outdated air communications system that needs upgrading.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the public was never in danger. "We did it out of an abundance of caution," he said at a press briefing.
Mullin said there was no indication so far that a hostile actor was involved. He told reporters at the White House that President Donald Trump had been briefed, and that he was not ruling out any possible cause, including a cyberattack. He also said the outage had no link to the global Microsoft outage the previous day.
He gave no timeframe for resolving the telecommunications problem. "It's going to take some time," he said.
Passengers and international routes
According to the tracking site FlightAware, more than 9,800 flights had been delayed and more than 5,100 cancelled at the time of reporting. It also showed more than 700 US flights already cancelled for Saturday local time.
Some airports reported being saturated with aircraft that could not take off. Photos showed terminals full of passengers waiting for updates.
International services into the US were also in doubt. A Delta Air Lines flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles was still on the tarmac at Tullamarine, though the delay is understood to have been baggage-related. Sydney Airport confirmed some US-bound flights had been grounded that morning.
"Passengers travelling to or via the United States should check with their airline for the latest information regarding their flight," a Sydney Airport spokesperson said. Multiple major US airlines have warned that delays will continue.
