US Airspace Reopens After Nationwide Flight Halt, Transportation Secretary Warns of Delays

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Flights across the United States began resuming late Friday after a nationwide ground stop caused by a failure in air traffic control communications, but authorities warned Saturday that thousands of cancellations and delays would continue as airlines worked to restore disrupted schedules.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the suspension of departures at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time on Nov. 13 (1:15 a.m. GMT Saturday), following approximately four hours in which aircraft preparing to take off across the United States were required to remain on the ground.

The rare action left passengers stranded at airports and forced airlines to reorganize operations.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said air traffic control facilities had regained full functionality before the restriction was lifted. Reopening the airspace, however, did not mean an immediate return to normal schedules.

"It will take us time to resume normal operations," Duffy said, emphasizing that passenger safety remained the government's priority.

'Aging Infrastructure'

Federal officials attributed the disruption to telecommunications equipment that had been in service for decades. Duffy described outdated switches, routers and copper lines that became overloaded, causing problems across the national air traffic control network.

"This is a legacy system problem," he said.

The failure has renewed debate over the funding needed to modernize the country's aviation infrastructure. On Thursday, a day before the shutdown, Duffy had formally requested $30.1 billion from Congress for improvements to the air traffic control system.

After flights were allowed to resume, he repeated his call for lawmakers to provide the resources necessary to replace aging equipment.

The episode placed the reliability of a critical federal system back at the center of discussions over government spending and transportation safety.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officials had found no evidence of hostile interference, including a cyberattack or an attack involving artificial intelligence.

He also ruled out a connection to the Microsoft service outage earlier in the week, which had affected email and business operations internationally. Officials' technical assessment pointed instead toward a failure in aging communications infrastructure.

Nearly 6,000 Flights Canceled

Almost 6,000 flights were canceled, including some international services, according to flight-tracking platform FlightAware as cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP). The figures reflected a rapidly changing disruption, and affected passengers faced additional delays even after the departure ban was lifted.

The suspension was exceptionally unusual in US aviation.

The previous nationwide ground stop occurred in January 2023 following the failure of a system used to send safety notices to pilots. Before that, such a widespread halt had followed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

On Friday, the effects were visible across the country's airports. Departure boards and mobile boarding passes sometimes displayed information that did not match what passengers were being told by airline staff.

At New York's LaGuardia Airport, Tiara Johnson, who was trying to reach Orlando for a concert, described repeated changes to her departure time. She told AFP she felt frustrated by the uncertainty and the sudden disruption of her plans.

In Las Vegas, traveler Joseph Anderson, 72, was trying to reach Oakland, California. He considered whether to drive instead, but worried that widespread flight cancellations would also leave highways crowded.

Susan Sardina had already boarded a flight to Orange County when passengers were instructed to get off the aircraft. She subsequently joined a long queue at a rental car counter, among travelers looking for alternative ways home.

Other passengers sought somewhere to stay. Kathy Sommers, whose flight home from a visit with friends was canceled, said her hosts had offered to collect her from the airport, giving her an unexpected extra evening with them.

A Slow Recovery

The disruption illustrates how quickly a problem in the national air traffic control network can spread through the aviation system.

Aircraft, crews and passengers were left in the wrong places, making the recovery more complicated than simply authorizing departures again.

The FAA's decision to stop departures was intended to maintain safety while communications were restored.

Yet the resulting cancellations and confusion exposed how reliant airports and airlines are on the uninterrupted operation of aging federal infrastructure.

Authorities had not announced a precise timetable for the return of normal schedules.

For passengers facing missed connections, canceled journeys and uncertain departure times, the reopening of US airspace marked the beginning of the recovery rather than its end.