Verizon cable cut disrupts hundreds of flights in New York and Philadelphia areas

Hundreds of flights to and from the New York area and Philadelphia were canceled, delayed or diverted Monday after a Verizon cable was accidentally cut during construction in New Jersey, severing a backup feed of key data for air traffic controllers, officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration halted flights bound for Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia and forced close to 100 planes, some of them after hourslong trips from Europe, to divert to other airports because of the issue.

The problem started with an initial circuit failure and "when it went to flip into the backup, we discovered the backup fiber had a break," FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters at an event in Washington, D.C. He said the break occurred somewhere between Newark and New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Bedford said the fiber was cut during construction. "Somebody dug it up," he said.

More than 600 flights in and out of Newark were canceled Monday by 5 p.m., half of the day's schedule, according to FlightAware, while nearly 100 were delayed. Nearly 200 Philadelphia flights were canceled and more than 400 delayed.

The circuit and backup feed loss were affecting the Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON, facility, in Philadelphia, which guides planes in and out of Newark and Philadelphia.

The disruptions spread to New York City in the early afternoon, where flights into LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport were also halted by the FAA, though they were resuming with residual delays by late afternoon.

"We have a fiber cable running adjacent to an Amtrak rail line in New Jersey. Construction contractors working in the area dug up and cut our cable," Verizon said in a statement. "Verizon's facilities were fully functional up to that point. Verizon bears no responsibility for this incident."

The company said it "immediately deployed our technicians to the scene" and added that it was "actively working to repair the damaged cable and restore connectivity as quickly as possible."

The FAA earlier Monday halted flights into Newark Liberty International Airport, United Airlines ' busiest international hub, as well as Philadelphia International Airport and New Jersey's Teterboro Airport.

United waived flight change fees for travelers affected by the disruption. American Airlines , which operates a hub out of Philadelphia, also waived change fees and allowed customers to fly out of other airports.

Some 100 flights bound for Newark were forced to divert, according to Flightradar24, including international flights from Iceland, Egypt, Greece, Spain and France.

A United flight from Berlin diverted to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, while an SAS flight from Stockholm bound for Newark was sent to Washington Dulles International Airport.

Aging air traffic control equipment and technology issues have vexed airline executives for years. The Trump administration last year announced a multibillion-dollar overhaul of U.S. air traffic control equipment and resources.

"This incident underscores the need for additional funding to modernize aging infrastructure and prevent disruptions like this in the future," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X on Monday.

On Monday, the Transportation Department and FAA unveiled a new artificial intelligence-powered tool meant to analyze data to minimize flight delays, rolling it out first in Washington, D.C.