On a Friday afternoon, the nation's skies went quiet when the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a rare, nationwide halt to departures after aging communications equipment, its routers and copper lines decades old, buckled under the weight of its own data. Thousands of travelers were left waiting at gates and in terminals, a reminder of how much daily life rests on systems most people never think about until they fail. Officials disagree on the cause, with one side pointing to the old machinery and the other to new equipment strained against it, while the deeper question is whether a coun
FAA Ground Stop Exposes Aging Air Traffic Systems as Duffy Demands $50 Billion From Congress
Thousands of passengers were stranded at airports nationwide, with many taken off flights or told to go home, and widespread delays continued into Saturday.
"How many more times does this have to happen?"
Mark
Why does this ground stop stand out?
Mimi
It's only the third nationwide one this century, and the longest since September 11, 2001. More than 8,200 flights were canceled on Friday alone.
Mark
What does Duffy say caused it?
Mimi
Old routers overloaded with data around 3:36 p.m. He says upgraded digital facilities didn't have the problem.
Luke
But that's his account. Mullin suggested new equipment added to old infrastructure may have overwhelmed it. Those explanations conflict, and nothing independent has settled it.
Mark
And the cyberattack question?
Mimi
Mullin said there was zero evidence of one, but also that officials won't rule it out.
Luke
So it's unconfirmed either way. Absence of evidence so far isn't a finding.
Mark
Why $50 billion now?
Mimi
He'd been asking for $30 billion. The outage gave him a platform, and he wants emergency money before Democrats take over Congress.
Luke
Worth noting the $30 billion bills have no cosponsors, and we don't know what Congress will do.
Le Pouls
- Overloaded legacy communications equipment forced a rare nationwide ground stop that halted nearly all U.S. departures.
- More than 8,200 flights were canceled, and thousands of passengers were stranded, taken off planes, or told to go home.
- Transportation Secretary Duffy is pressing Congress for $50 billion in emergency funding while blaming decades-old infrastructure.
- Officials say there is no evidence of a cyberattack, though the question has not been fully closed, and disruption was expected to linger into Thanksgiving travel.
On a Friday afternoon, the nation's skies went quiet when the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a rare, nationwide halt to departures after aging communications equipment, its routers and copper lines decades old, buckled under the weight of its own data. Thousands of travelers were left waiting at gates and in terminals, a reminder of how much daily life rests on systems most people never think about until they fail. Officials disagree on the cause, with one side pointing to the old machinery and the other to new equipment strained against it, while the deeper question is whether a country that depends on the sky will choose to repair the foundations beneath it.
At Denver airport on Friday afternoon, passengers were pulled off their planes with their bags and told to wait. Most stayed put, hoping for an update that would reach them in thirty minutes. Their small wait was the visible edge of something rare: the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered a nationwide ground stop, halting nearly all departures across the country.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the trouble began at 3:36 p.m., when radar and communications systems began to falter. Old routers, he explained, were overwhelmed with data. The failures were widespread enough to force the unusual moratorium on takeoffs. The scale was vast: more than 8,200 flights were canceled, and the disruption spilled into Saturday.
Officials split on the cause. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was zero evidence of a cyberattack, though the question was still open, and suggested that new equipment added to old infrastructure may have overwhelmed it. Duffy rejected that, pointing to 1980s copper lines and noting that facilities already upgraded to digital systems had not failed.
After flights resumed, Duffy pressed Congress from the White House podium. He asked for $50 billion in emergency funding before year's end, warning that the system would continue to fail without it. Republicans have filed bills for $30 billion, but neither has cosponsors, and control of Congress is set to shift to Democrats. As Democrats gathered in Denver for a party conference, the stoppage caught them too, and former Secretary Pete Buttigieg said of his successor, "I have questions." What comes next depends on whether Congress acts and whether investigators settle the cyberattack question.
At the Denver airport on Friday afternoon, passengers were taken off their planes with their suitcases and left to wait. A handful started rebooking for the next day. Most stayed put, hoping for word. A Southwest flight attendant told them an update was expected in 30 minutes. It was the visible edge of a rare event: the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered a nationwide ground stop, halting nearly all departures across the country.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the trouble began at 3:36 p.m., when radar and other air traffic communications started to falter. In his account, old routers became overloaded with data. The failures were not universal, he said, but they were widespread enough to force the unusual nationwide moratorium on takeoffs. Before the order, the F.A.A. had already halted flights to Chicago's O'Hare and Midway, citing equipment problems, and reported equipment-related departure delays at Newark, Las Vegas, Teterboro, Orlando, Houston and Phoenix.
The scale was large. Hundreds of flights were diverted and more were canceled, though some internationally bound flights got permission to leave. FlightRadar24 counted more than 1,000 aircraft in the air bound for U.S. airports during the stop, and Flighty showed more than 30,000 departures and arrivals scheduled for the rest of the day. Cirium reported that more than 8,200 flights, over 31 percent of those scheduled for Friday, were canceled. The damage carried into Saturday, normally a slower day, with more than 5 percent of flights canceled before it began. The Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 2.5 million people on Thursday.
This was only the third nationwide ground stop this century, and the second longest, after the one following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The other came on Jan. 11, 2023, lasting around 90 minutes after a system that alerts pilots to hazards went down.
On cause, the administration's two spokesmen differed in emphasis. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was "zero evidence" of a cyberattack, though he also said officials were still looking and would not rule it out. He stressed that lives were never in danger. He suggested that new equipment added to the old infrastructure may have overwhelmed it. Mr. Duffy rejected that, insisting the legacy equipment itself was to blame. "We have old, old switches, old routers," he said, describing 1980s copper lines. He noted that facilities already upgraded to digital systems did not suffer the overload. Last week, the F.A.A. said it had begun phasing out floppy disks.
Minutes after flights resumed, Mr. Duffy used the White House podium to press Congress. For months he has sought $30 billion more for air traffic control modernization, on top of the $12.5 billion Congress approved last year, which he calls a down payment. Now he asked for $50 billion in emergency funding before year's end. "How many more times does this have to happen for Congress to give the money to fix it?" he said. He warned the system would "continue to fail" without it, and predicted schedules would normalize by Thanksgiving travel, when airlines expect about 2.7 million passengers daily. Larger commercial flights would be prioritized over private and charter ones.
The politics are unsettled. Republicans have filed House and Senate bills authorizing $30 billion, but neither has cosponsors. Control of Congress passes to Democrats after the year ends, and some already question how efficiently the F.A.A. has spent its money. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries blamed the Trump administration's "failed leadership" and demanded timely answers about how and why this happened.
The stoppage also caught Democrats gathered in Denver for a party conference. At a hotel bar, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg watched the news conference and said of his successor's performance, "I have questions." Governors Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill and Senator Elissa Slotkin waited on flight news nearby, as did Senators Raphael Warnock and Mark Warner. Whether Congress acts before year's end, and whether investigators settle the cyberattack question, are the next things to watch.
Citations marquantes
We've seen zero evidence that this was a cyberattack.— Markwayne Mullin, homeland security secretary
It's going to continue to fail.— Sean Duffy, transportation secretary
Envie de l'histoire complète ?
Lire l'original sur The New York Times ↗