Boston residents heading out of Logan International Airport on Saturday found the airport still coping with the fallout from a nationwide FAA ground stop that began Friday afternoon. According to NBCBoston, the airport was tracking 47 delayed flights and 190 cancellations early Saturday, a situation that Massport officials warned could take several days to fully resolve and may not be completely cleared until the Thanksgiving travel period.
The ground stop, issued at 3:54 p.m. ET on Friday, halted all departing flights across the United States for more than five hours. The FAA lifted the stop at 8:15 p.m. ET, after more than 7,000 flights were canceled nationwide, according to NBCBoston’s coverage. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters the outage stemmed from overloaded data routers in the air‑traffic control system, which caused instability in radar and communications feeds. He added that the legacy equipment will continue to be a challenge and urged Congress to approve $50 billion for a full system overhaul.
Passengers at Logan described chaotic conditions. One stranded traveler said, “We’re just sitting in there going, ‘OK, what?'” while another noted, “A great nap helps, I will tell you that.” Tarrice, traveling with her daughter Arnitra to catch a cruise, explained that their flight was canceled and they were trying to rebook, fearing they would miss a wedding celebration scheduled for the next morning. Shari, attempting to reach New York with her daughter Ella, reported that rental cars and trains were sold out, leaving them waiting three hours for luggage.
Federal officials emphasized that the safety of the traveling public remained the top priority. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed that President Donald Trump was briefed on the incident, and he reiterated that there was no evidence of a cyberattack. Mullin said the FAA acted “out of an abundance of caution” and that the agency was able to handle the situation.
Airlines began resuming service by Friday evening, with Delta, United, and American reporting flights taking off again. Duffy expressed confidence that the airspace would catch up before the Thanksgiving travel rush, and Massport indicated that flight schedules were expected to return to normal by Sunday night.
What’s next: Travelers are advised to check flight status frequently and allow extra time for rebooking. Logan Airport officials expect most delayed and canceled flights to be re‑accommodated by Sunday night, but they caution that some passengers may still experience disruptions into the holiday weekend.
Sources: nbcboston.com, nbcboston.com, nbcboston.com
