US flights resume after communications issue as officials rule out cyberattack

FLIGHTS IN THE United States started to resume on Saturday in the early hours, after being grounded for several hours due to a major communications outage, with authorities saying returning to normal operations would take time.

The nationwide stop on Friday sparked widespread chaos and left hundreds of thousands of passengers in limbo, with some pulled off planes moments before departure by airline staff who appeared in the dark about unfolding events.

The incident marked only the second time such an alert had been issued in US airspace – which is among the busiest in the world – since the 9/11 attacks.

The ground stop lasted around four hours and was lifted at 8.15pm Eastern Time (1.15am Irish Time).

Federal Aviation Administration officials reopened the airspace on Friday night “after restoring full functionality” at air traffic control facilities, according to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.

“It will take us time (to) resume normal operations… Our top priority is the safety of you and your family when you fly,” Duffy said.

Administration officials blamed the incident on telecommunications issues with decades-old equipment, adding there was no evidence of foul play.

“This is a legacy system problem,” Duffy said. “We have old, old switches, old routers.

“We use 1980s little copper lines. It’s an old system that went down, and went down everywhere. It got overloaded.”

Duffy had formally asked Congress on Thursday for $30.1 billion (€27.23 billion) in funds to upgrade and modernise the air traffic control system.

As the ground stop was lifted, he repeated his plea.

“I’m going to say it a million times: the Congress has to give the resources to the president so he can finish this bill,” he said.

6,000 flights cancelled 

There were almost 6,000 flights cancelled, including some international routes, according to FlightAware, a tracking platform.

Footage from airports around the country showed gates full, with planes waiting on taxiways.

Passengers thronged concourses, desperate for information about an outage that had thrown their plans into chaos.

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“We’re trying to debate whether or not we need to reschedule or drive or what, but if the whole country is stopped, that means the highways are going to be jammed too,” said Joseph Anderson (72), who was trying to fly from Las Vegas to Oakland, California.

A nationwide ground stop is highly unusual.

There was one such stop in January 2023 when a pilot notification system failed, but the only other national stop happened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in September 2001, when no aircraft took to the skies for days.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stressed there was no evidence of any hostile action on Friday.

“We’ve seen zero evidence that this was a cyberattack or (AI) attack,” he told a news conference.

He also ruled out any connection with the outage that affected Microsoft this week, knocking email systems offline for millions of users, public services and businesses worldwide.

Confusion and delays

The stop caused misery at airports around the country.

At New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Tiara Johnson said she had been trying to get to Orlando for a concert with a friend.

“They just keep delaying it… So it started out at 7:55. Then it went to 8:30, 9:30. Now it’s at 10:30. So we don’t know when it’s gonna leave,” she told AFP.

“I feel very frustrated because you know, you come to the airport and then all of a sudden your whole plans have changed and you don’t know when you’re leaving. We’re kind of stuck.”

Some travellers said they had been told their flight was delayed because of wind, while others were left to gather what information they could.

Boards at the airport continued to show departures leaving as normal, while mobile boarding passes held by those stuck on the ground appeared to show their flight was underway.

Stranded passengers were scrambling to find alternatives, with long lines forming at rental car counters at the airport in Las Vegas.

Susan Sardina said she had boarded her flight back to Orange County, California when staff told passengers there was a problem.

“We were already on our flight to leave and we were told to get off,” she told AFP as she stood in a lengthy queue for a rental car.

For those looking on the bright side, the delay was a chance to extend a break.

Kathy Sommers was on her way home from visiting friends in Las Vegas when her flight got cancelled.

“We’re blessed that our friends are coming back to pick us up,” she said. “So one more night to play cards.”