US transportation secretary Sean Duffy spoke about the ongoing flight chaos
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted the nationwide ground stop that halted departures across the United States after a communications failure disrupted air traffic control operations on Friday. However, passengers may still face delays and cancellations as airlines work to bring their aircraft and crew back into position. US transportation secretary Sean Duffy said the problem had been identified and that air traffic control centres and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities were operational again. The FAA reopened US airspace at 8.15 pm Eastern Time, allowing flights to resume. But Duffy cautioned that lifting the ground stop did not mean all flights would immediately take off. The recovery would depend on whether airlines had pilots and flight attendants available to operate their scheduled services. "Does that mean every flight is going to fly right now? It's going to be slow," Duffy said, advising passengers at airports to check directly with their airlines. "We're going to try to move as many of those as we can tonight if we have the capacity with crews to move those flights. If not, we're going to start tomorrow morning with our airline partners, moving those aircraft. But it's going to take us some time to unwind what's happened this afternoon," he added.
What caused the nationwide ground stop?
Explaining the sequence of events, Duffy said instability in radar and communications systems was detected at 3.36 pm Eastern Time across air traffic control centres and TRACON facilities nationwide. The disruption led to inconsistencies in radar data and communications between controllers and aircraft. The FAA subsequently ordered a ground stop, following established safety procedures. Duffy said more than 3,500 aircraft were in the air when the order was issued. Most were able to land safely, and fewer than 400 remained in the airspace at the time of his latest update. He said the FAA had not lost all radar or TRACON capabilities, but the instability prompted officials to halt departures as a precaution. Certain essential operations, including medical evacuation flights, cargo services carrying critical medicines and law enforcement movements, were allowed to continue. Duffy attributed the failure to ageing air traffic control infrastructure, describing the system as "incredibly old" and saying that outdated hardware had gone down. The secretary also warned that similar disruptions could happen again unless the system was modernised. "You will have more of them unless the American people and the Congress tell us to build," he said, while acknowledging that he could not predict every possible failure. He referred to previous incidents in New York and Newark involving similar problems and urged lawmakers to approve funding for a complete overhaul.
Trump administration seeks $50 billion for air traffic control upgrades
The Trump administration increased its request for air traffic control funding to $50 billion late Friday, after the communications failure forced the nationwide ground stop, Reuters reported. Earlier in the day, Duffy and the White House had sought $30.1 billion to upgrade the country's ageing airports and air traffic control infrastructure. "This is an emergency," Duffy said. "What's more important than having an air traffic control system that actually works?" The $30.1 billion proposal included $10.1 billion for air traffic control modernisation, including a common automation platform, controller workstations and cloud computing. It also sought $2 billion to replace and improve FAA control towers and $18 billion for airport-related projects, including the modernisation or replacement of ageing terminals. The administration's request also comes after Congress approved $12.5 billion in July 2025 for air traffic control upgrades and increased recruitment of controllers. The FAA has said it has replaced 68% of its legacy copper telecommunications network with high-speed fibre infrastructure. Reuters reported that the Senate Commerce Committee said Friday's incident underlined the need to prioritise modernising the en route centres that manage traffic between airports. Congress has already approved $1.9 billion to replace outdated en route centres. The FAA's dependence on ageing technology has been a longstanding concern. The agency relies on decades-old computers and has sourced replacement parts through auction websites. Last week, it said it would replace floppy disks used for weather and other critical information at more than 400 air traffic control facilities by the end of 2028.
Airlines warn of continuing delays and cancellations
Even after the FAA lifted the ground stop, airlines faced the task of repositioning aircraft and arranging available crews before they could resume normal schedules. Air Canada cancelled all flights to and from the US for the remainder of Friday evening because of the FAA order. The airline also warned that services between Canada, the Caribbean and South America that pass through US airspace could be affected. JetBlue cancelled the remainder of its domestic flights on Friday, with exceptions for certain Europe-bound services from Boston Logan International Airport and New York's John F Kennedy International Airport. The airline warned that disruptions, including further cancellations, could continue into Saturday, according to AP. The ground stop had affected thousands of flights. AP reported that at least 827 flights had been diverted by Friday evening, including 670 sent back to their original departure airports and 157 redirected elsewhere, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.
Around 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers had been scheduled to depart US airports after 4 pm Eastern Time, raising the prospect of further disruption. The stoppage also affected cargo operations and left several NBA, NHL and college sports teams stranded as they attempted to travel for weekend fixtures, AP reported. Passengers have been advised to check their flight status with airlines before heading to airports, as the resumption of departures does not guarantee that every scheduled service will operate.
