If you have a flight booked to, from or through the United States in the coming days, you’ll want to read this before you pack your bags. A huge air traffic shutdown in the US has left thousands of travellers stranded, and the effects are still being felt.
More than 2,000 flights were cancelled across the United States on Saturday as airlines tried to recover from the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years. It’s the kind of disruption that can ripple across the globe, much like the bomb hoaxes that recently hit flights across Europe.
- US air traffic control ordered a nationwide ground stop lasting more than four hours on Friday.
- Trump administration officials blamed new technology that overloaded old equipment, causing radar and communication gaps.
- More than 2,000 flights were cancelled Saturday as airlines worked to recover.
- College and professional sports teams had to scramble for buses and hotel rooms to reach games.
What actually happened?
US officials say new technology added to the country’s air traffic control system overloaded equipment that was already old. This caused what they called “intermittent” communication and radar gaps. To stay safe, authorities ordered a full ground stop, meaning flights across the country were held or delayed for safety reasons.
The stop lasted more than four hours. A limited number of domestic flights managed to depart after it was lifted around 8:15pm US Eastern time. But officials warned the knock-on effects could last for days, even as they said the system should be working normally again in time for the Thanksgiving travel rush later this month.
This wasn’t the first time this has happened. It’s the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a key Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) computer system that sends safety notices to pilots broke down. Before that, the only other one came after the 11 September, 2001 attacks.
What it meant for passengers on the ground
At airports across the country, passengers were left staring at departure boards showing delays, or rushing to find buses and trains instead. Some travellers reportedly passed the time singing together while they waited.
One traveller, Emily Brown, waited more than four hours at Dallas airport with her 14-year-old daughter, hoping to fly to Columbus, Ohio, to surprise her daughter’s best friend. They eventually gave up. Brown had to call the friend in tears to explain.
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