Nationwide FAA ground stop causes thousands of flight cancellations in New York area
A federal aviation safety shutdown led to dozens of delays and cancellations at Newark, JFK and LaGuardia airports, with officials working to restore service before Thanksgiving travel.
A nationwide ground stop ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration disrupted air travel across the United States on Friday, leading to nearly 2,000 flight cancellations and extensive delays at Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport on Saturday. At Newark, 15% of scheduled flights were cancelled, while cancellations at LaGuardia and JFK each reached 21%, and dozens of additional flights were delayed.
The FAA said the shutdown was triggered by "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety," citing a failure in communications equipment. Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters that there was no evidence of malicious activity or artificial intelligence involvement and that the agency was investigating the defective equipment. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explained that routine maintenance at a remote FAA site, involving a switch from copper wire to fiber, caused a router to flood other system routers with over 1,000 connection attempts every few seconds, disrupting radar feeds and aircraft communications. Once the work was isolated, systems were restored.
Governor Kathy Hochul called for a congressional investigation and the resignation of Transportation Secretary Duffy, stating that the incident highlighted ongoing issues in the aviation system. Major carriers responded by offering travel waivers: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines waived change fees through Saturday, with United also covering fare differences, and Southwest Airlines allowed rebooking without charge through Monday.
Officials expect the air travel schedule to return to normal by Sunday, ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel period.