FAA lifts ground stop at Philadelphia airport amid ongoing equipment outage delays
A ground stop at Philadelphia International Airport was lifted Monday evening, but travelers still face average delays of over three hours due to a circuit failure and damaged fiber optic line affecting regional air traffic.
The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a ground stop at Philadelphia International Airport on Monday evening, yet passengers are still encountering extensive delays after an equipment outage disrupted air traffic control communications. The FAA had issued a second ground stop that day while crews worked to fix a blown circuit at the Philadelphia TRACON facility. When attempts were made to switch to the backup system, technicians found that a fiber-optic line had been severed by construction work in New Jersey, affecting flights at Philadelphia, Newark, Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.
An FAA advisory posted around 5 p.m. indicated that travelers at Philadelphia could expect an average delay of about 212 minutes. By early afternoon, some flights began to resume at LaGuardia, Kennedy and Philadelphia, but the agency warned that significant delays would continue through the rest of the day.
"We are working to restore the primary connection as soon as possible by installing a new circuit on the primary line, while also repairing the backup fiber optic line," FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters, adding that the timeline for full restoration remains uncertain.
Several airlines announced they would allow customers to change flights without fees, and the FAA advised passengers to verify flight status with their carriers before traveling to the airport.