Air travel across the United States gradually returned to normal on Saturday following a rare nationwide ground stop that resulted in thousands of flight cancellations and left countless passengers stranded.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced at a Saturday news conference, “We are back at full operations.” He extended his gratitude to pilots, airline staff, air traffic controllers, and FAA personnel for their professionalism throughout the incident.
“They safely landed all of our aircraft,” he stated, also acknowledging the patience demonstrated by passengers during what proved to be a significant disruption.
“Planes are pushing back, taxiing, and taking off, and it is safe to fly,” Duffy noted in an earlier social media post on Saturday. “You will continue to see some delays and cancellations as carriers reschedule flights and reposition aircraft and crews where they are needed most.”
According to flight tracking platform FlightAware, more than 4,100 flights were canceled on Saturday, while approximately 3,200 additional flights experienced delays.
How did the FAA ground stop happen?
The ground stop was initiated at 3:36 p.m. EST on Friday when the FAA issued the order while roughly 3,500 aircraft were airborne. “The FAA issued a ground stop out of an abundance of caution while 3,500+ planes were in the air,” Duffy stated. All aircraft in flight were able to land without incident. The ground stop was subsequently lifted at approximately 8:20 p.m. EST the same evening.
This event marked the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a critical FAA computer system experienced a malfunction. Prior to that occurrence, the last national ground stop had been implemented following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. FlightAware reported that approximately 9,159 flights were canceled and 7,190 were delayed on Friday alone, leaving passengers stranded at major airports throughout the country.
Officials attributed the ground stop to outdated system infrastructure and legacy technology. “What we have is an incredibly old air traffic control system,” Duffy remarked.
On Saturday, Duffy disclosed that a preliminary investigation revealed an L3Harris contractor had been working at a remote FAA facility, transitioning old copper wiring to fiber optic cables while replacing a router. The router undergoing replacement subsequently began flooding other routers within the network, overwhelming the system. Duffy noted that approximately 1,000 login attempts were being recorded every four to five seconds.
The Transportation Secretary indicated that the FAA is working to determine whether the incident was the result of human error or the installation of a defective router. Duffy expressed concern that numerous contractors “take our money and provide really poor service,” and confirmed that L3Harris, a technology and defense corporation, owned the system in question.
L3Harris issued a statement on Saturday confirming that the company has been engaged in modernizing the communications infrastructure supporting the National Airspace System in close coordination with the FAA. “We are supporting the FAA in its investigation to understand the conditions that led to the Nov. 13 ground stop of our nation’s air travel,” the company stated, adding that it takes the nationwide ground stop and “its impact” seriously.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford clarified that the wire upgrade was part of a routine maintenance process the agency had been conducting for several years, with approximately 70% of the system already transitioned from copper to fiber optic cabling. After the faulty router disrupted the system for 45 minutes, FAA officials were unable to identify the root cause of the instability, which ultimately spread to 17 facilities. “Out of an abundance of caution,” the FAA made the decision to issue the ground stop, Bedford explained, affirming his full support for that decision.
Bedford stated that there was absolutely no evidence of any malicious activity or artificial intelligence involvement in the incident.
Senior government sources informed CBS News on Friday that the issue was traced to specific hardware, namely Cisco 600 series routers manufactured between 2001 and 2006.
Duffy noted in a post that the FAA is actively working to modernize “this aging infrastructure thanks to a $12.5 billion down payment secured by President Trump, but that isn’t ENOUGH.” The Trump administration subsequently increased its funding request for air traffic control improvements to $50 billion late Friday evening.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated during a Friday briefing that there were no indications the ground stop was the result of a cyberattack. Duffy echoed this assessment on Saturday, expressing his belief that the incident was not a cyberattack, but rather an FAA system that failed to “meet the moment.”
Can Americans still travel safely?
Multiple senior U.S. officials confirmed that it is entirely safe for Americans to fly. “Our top priority right now is making sure travelers get home safely to their families as quickly as possible,” Duffy stated, adding on Saturday that the United States maintains the “busiest” and “safest” airspace in the world.
FAA Administrator Bedford noted that 50,000 flights had been scheduled for Friday, with 30,000 successfully completed before the ground stop took effect. Approximately 12,000 flights were unable to be completed as a result of the stoppage, of which roughly 3,000 were private flights and the remainder were commercial.
Bedford indicated that approximately 5,000 flight cancellations were anticipated on Saturday, but expressed confidence that airlines should be fully restored to their regular schedules by the end of Sunday. “We do anticipate somewhere between four and 5,000 of the 41,000 flights that are scheduled today likely will cancel, so we will still have delays and cancellations today, but that will set us up for a full recovery tomorrow,” he said.
Delays remain possible at major airports across the country, including those serving Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Pittsburgh, New York City, Los Angeles, and Baltimore.
Duffy advised travelers to contact their airlines before departing for the airport. Delta announced on Saturday that it would provide customers with flexible rebooking options, noting that it was continuing efforts to restore normal operations following the four-hour ground stop. “Customers traveling today should expect delays and additional schedule adjustments as we work to reposition flight crews and aircraft,” Delta stated.
American Airlines indicated on Saturday that the carrier had taken several steps toward recovery, while urging travelers to continue monitoring the situation as operations gradually return to normal. “While we are taking every step to limit the impact on our customers and team members, the lingering effects of this major disruption to the national airspace system will continue today, including additional delays and cancellations,” the airline said.
Southwest Airlines announced on Saturday that it had implemented a waiver permitting customers to cancel or rebook their flights at a later date without incurring any penalty. “We are working to get our Customers to their destinations as quickly as possible,” the airline stated.
