Air Traffic Grounded in the US: 530 Flights Cancelled Due to Technical Glitch

New Delhi. Disruptions to air travel in the United States are expected to persist through Sunday. A malfunction in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) air traffic control communication system brought operations to a standstill across the country. Airlines are now working to restore normal services; however, the incident has led to the cancellation or delay of thousands of flights.

The head of the FAA stated on Saturday that it is unlikely that services will return to normal by Sunday evening. The agency is currently working to stabilize operations and resolve the underlying technical issues.

According to the aviation tracking website ‘FlightAware,’ by 6:45 PM ET (23:45 GMT) on Saturday, airlines in the US had cancelled over 6,150 flights and delayed more than 7,300 others. The situation was even worse on Friday, when technical issues resulted in the cancellation of approximately 9,200 flights and delays to 7,500 more. By Saturday evening, more than 530 flights scheduled for Sunday had also been cancelled.

Numerous Flights Delayed
On Saturday, hundreds of flights were either cancelled or delayed at Denver International Airport. According to FlightAware, at least 430 flights from Denver International Airport were delayed, while over 380 flights were cancelled entirely.

A senior official from the Federal Aviation Administration has apologized to passengers for the disruption. They stated that the aviation system remains stable, and the FAA expects operations to return largely to normal by late Sunday. Thousands of passengers are stranded at airports due to the ongoing disruptions. Airlines now face the challenge of reorganizing their aircraft, pilots, and other crew members.

Flights were halted due to a technical glitch.
On Friday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a “ground stop” order, which resulted in the suspension of nearly all flights for approximately five hours. This was the most significant disruption to air travel since the 9/11 attacks.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy explained on Friday that the hardware for the air traffic control system is quite old, and it was this that malfunctioned. He noted that the President has been urging Congress for the past year to provide full funding for a new air traffic control system. Furthermore, he clarified that this incident was not a cyberattack.