Air travel across the United States is unlikely to return to regular scheduling until late on Sunday, according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Bryan Bedford. Following a nationwide ground stop that halted nearly all departures for approximately five hours on Friday, aviation systems are undergoing a gradual recovery.
The disruption, described as one of the most severe days in US air travel history, caused widespread delays and cancellations. FlightAware data indicated that more than 6,400 flights were cancelled and over 8,000 were delayed by Saturday evening. Additionally, 875 flights scheduled for Sunday had already been cancelled. The Friday ground stop marked the longest national halt to air travel since the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated on Saturday that the root cause of the failure was the installation of at least one new router at a remote facility by FAA contractor L3Harris. Officials are currently investigating whether the issue stemmed from user or installer error, or if the hardware itself was faulty. The White House convened an emergency meeting in the Situation Room on Friday to determine if the outage was the result of a cyberattack, though this was ultimately ruled out.
The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union representing FAA technicians, noted that the problem was isolated to two routers updated on Friday, believed to be located in Arkansas and Texas. The union stated that their members were not involved in the upgrades. L3Harris has confirmed it is supporting the FAA investigation.
Key facts
- FAA head Bryan Bedford apologized for the disruption and stated that the aviation system remains stable.
- The Friday ground stop lasted for nearly five hours, resulting in roughly 9,200 total flight cancellations that day.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy identified the cause as an L3Harris router installation at a remote facility.
- L3Harris shares fell approximately 4% in after-hours trading on Friday following the incident.
Why it matters
The incident triggered an emergency review by the White House and federal agencies to assess the vulnerability of the national aviation infrastructure. As recovery efforts continue, passengers are advised to monitor flight status updates as the industry works to clear the backlog of delayed and cancelled travel.
Source: Hindustan Times
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