For more than four hours on Friday, no plane was able to take off in the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stopped all departures when radars and communications in control centers began to fail. This is the second total stoppage of airspace since 9/11, after the one in January 2023. The official explanation points to the oldest part of the system: switches and routers that became saturated with data and provided incoherent information.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy summed it up with a simple image: the network still rests on copper lines from the 1980s. What the controller sees on his screen and what the pilot hears still travels through them. The largest air market on the planet moves through this network: more than 45,000 flights and 2.9 million passengers daily. At rush hour, up to 5,400 aircraft fly through the sky at the same time and more than 14,000 controllers watch over all of them.
A veteran Spanish air traffic controller, familiar with the US system, explains to La Vanguardia that everything works very differently there than in Europe: they play more to the limit. In good times that translates into more flexibility and dynamism. When there are failures, remember, “everything falls apart dramatically.” On Friday just that happened.
The warnings came from afar. In 2024, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzed 138 computer systems in air traffic control and declared 51 unsustainable due to obsolescence and lack of spare parts. The FAA itself admitted that many modernizations would take at least a decade to complete. In 2025, telecommunications outages at the center that oversees Newark Airport in western New York shook public confidence. In Denver, the main and reserve frequencies fell at the same time for a few minutes during which there was no communication with the planes. Duffy also recalled that there are controllers who work in facilities with leaks and without air conditioning, signs that there is a lack of investment in the entire system.
The cost of a breakdown like this is measured in hours, passengers and suitcases. At eight o'clock on Friday afternoon, FlightAware, the platform that follows flights in real time, counted more than 5,000 cancellations and nearly 10,000 delays. The domino effect, with planes and crews out of position, lasted all day Saturday and will bring a queue for a few more days. National Security also analyzes certain incompatibilities between old equipment and what is being installed. Modernization in fits and starts can also fail.
Air traffic control copper wiring is the most visible symptom of a larger problem. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) awarded an overall grade of C to the country's infrastructure in 2025, the highest in its history, improving the C- of 2021. The same entity calculated that 3.7 trillion dollars of investment were needed between 2024 and 2033. Airports receive a D+ (scratched fail), bridges a C, and ports lead the table with a B.
In 2025, Congress authorized an advance of $12.5 billion to the civil aviation sector. According to Duffy, he would be executed before Donald Trump leaves office. The White House asked for another 30 billion in a letter sent the same morning of the stoppage. After the crisis, those responsible for Transportation and National Security raised the figure to 50,000 million and demanded emergency funds. In his line, Trump attributed the failure to “old and broken things” and Duffy admitted that the analysis of what happened continues and warned that the system will continue to fail if it is not truly reversed.
