Washington — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop Friday night, reopening U.S. airspace at 8:15 p.m. Eastern after a four‑hour pause that halted thousands of flights.
Officials explain cause and response
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin briefed the press, saying the stoppage began around 4 p.m. Eastern. Duffy attributed the outage to overloaded routers and aging analog hardware, describing it as a “continual problem” that needs fixing.
“Our routers actually got overloaded with data,” Duffy said. “It’s the old hardware that went down. This is a continual problem that we have, and it should be fixed.” He urged Congress to provide $50 billion in emergency funding to address air‑traffic control issues and replace outdated communication infrastructure.
Impact on travelers
Flight tracking service FlightAware reported more than 9,000 flights delayed and over 6,000 canceled nationwide. Mullin reassured the public that no lives were at risk, stating, “All your loved ones are safe. We are working to resolve the issue.” He did not rule out a potential cybersecurity breach, noting older technology could have contributed.
Funding and legislation
The One Big Beautiful Bill, passed in July 2025, allocated $12.5 billion for FAA system upgrades. Duffy called for additional appropriations, noting that lawmakers have proposed $22.7 billion for fiscal year 2027 to replace communication infrastructure.
“By doing nothing, you inject way more risk into the system,” Duffy warned. “Let’s continue to lead with a state‑of‑the‑art system that no one has, that’s the best in the world, but that takes cash.” Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D‑WA) said her committee will review the communication failures.
Looking ahead
Duffy expressed confidence that air travel will be fully operational before the Thanksgiving travel rush, saying, “I think we’re going to be back up and operational as we come into the heat of travel during Thanksgiving.”
Original reporting: Clark County Today (Vancouver WA) — read the source article.
