Air travel issues to persist well into Nov 15, US officials say, with thousands of flights affected

WASHINGTON - The head of the FAA predicted that US air travel would not return to normal schedules until late Nov 15 as the aviation system gradually recovers from a nationwide flight shutdown that officials blamed on routine maintenance gone awry.

As of 4.15pm Eastern Time (5.15am on Nov 15, Singapore time), airlines on Nov 14 had cancelled more than 5,300 US flights and delayed almost 6,300, according to FlightAware, an aviation website. That followed about 9,200 flights cancelled and 7,500 delayed on Nov 13 after the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop because of disruptions to air traffic communications.

Federal Aviation Administration head Bryan Bedford said on Nov 13 that he expected airline operations to largely return to normal by late Nov 15. He also apologised for the disruption, adding that the system remains stable.

The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop on Nov 13 that halted nearly all departing flights for almost five hours. It was the longest nationwide halt to air travel since the attacks of Sept 11, 2001 and one of the single worst US travel days ever.

The issue prompted the White House to convene an emergency meeting in the Situation Room on Nov 13 and federal agencies to scramble to determine if it was a cyberattack.

But the problem was traced to FAA contractor L3Harris’ installation of at least one new router at a remote facility, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Nov 14.

“We’re working to determine whether we had incompetence, meaning was it user error or installer error from L3Harris, or did they install a faulty router? We haven’t determined what the fault was,” Duffy told reporters at a news conference.

L3Harris said it took the issue seriously and is supporting the FAA in its investigation. Its shares last traded down about 4% after hours on Nov 13.

Overloaded communications centres

Duffy said the trouble began on Nov 13 afternoon, when air traffic control centres experienced instability in radar and communications systems. The router issue led to data overloading other communications centres, officials said.

“We had over 1,000 connection attempts every four to five seconds, and what that did was (it) gave us issues with our communication with airplanes, and it also caused some disruption with our radar,” Duffy added.

The issue affected communications at 17 of the FAA’s 22 en route centres, which control aircraft during the cruise portion of a flight. Bedford said the FAA ordered the ground stop in case a centre lost all communications. “No facilities went dark. Nothing was fully lost,” Bedford added.

The FAA said it was doing additional testing with L3Harris to see if there are any additional risks.

Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines all canceled about 25% of their flights on Nov 14, while JetBlue canceled nearly 45%. Airlines have issued travel waivers allowing passengers to rebook flights for later dates without cost.

Though the FAA lifted the ground stop on Nov 13 evening, the disruption for passengers was far from over, with tens of thousands of people stranded in airports. Airlines were trying to get flight crews and other personnel in position to resume flights.

The disruption stranded some college football teams on Nov 13 before games scheduled for Nov 14.

Funds sought to fix ‘emergency’

The disruption on Nov 13 is the latest and most dramatic sign of strain on a US air traffic control system beset by ageing technology, equipment and communications problems and a shortage of several thousand controllers.

Duffy on Nov 13 called for US$50 billion (S$64 billion) in funding to upgrade air traffic control systems, up from his earlier request of US$30 billion – after Congress approved US$12.5 billion last year.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Nov 14 told Fox News that he supports approving more funding for air traffic in 2026. Johnson’s Republicans control Congress until 2027, when Democrats will take over because of their gains in the Nov 3 midterm elections.

US Representatives Rick Larsen and Andre Carson, Democrats slated in 2027 to chair the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and aviation subcommittee, respectively, said in a joint statement Nov 14 that their panels will “hold the administration accountable for what happened to make sure this chaos does not happen again.”

Since receiving US$12.5 billion last year, the Transportation Department has awarded contracts worth US$4.3 billion but only spent US$1 billion, Larsen and Carson said. REUTERS