Passengers continue to face delays and cancellations after US lifts nationwide ground stop
Air travel across the United States remains severely snarled following a rare nationwide ground stop ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday due to a widespread telecommunications outage. Although the FAA lifted the order after testing systems to ensure operational stability, major disruptions carried over into Saturday morning. US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy reported that national airspace officially reopened at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, but he cautioned that restoring normal flight schedules would take considerable time, citing the country's "incredibly old" air traffic control infrastructure alongside critical crew availability bottlenecks, including pilot and flight attendant shortages.
The operational fallout has been massive. Data from tracking service FlightAware recorded more than 8,860 flight cancellations to or from the US on Friday, with approximately 2,650 additional cancellations logged by Saturday morning. Real-time mapping from Flightradar24 confirmed widespread disruption across airports nationwide. Major carriers including United Airlines, Delta, and American Airlines have begun resuming services, with American stating it is working to operate as many scheduled flights as possible while repositioning its network for a broader recovery in the coming days. Passengers have been advised to check directly with their airlines for updates as the backlog slowly clears.
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