Today's Edition
NEW YORK TIMES
Air traffic operations over the United States continued to improve Sunday after nearly all flights were grounded for more than four hours Friday. Still, disruptions remained across the system with many flights cancelled or delayed.
Nearly 90% of all flights left within 14 minutes of their scheduled departure time Sunday morning, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. But about 5% of flights - more than 1,300 trips - had already been cancelled, higher than a typical day, showing the continuing effects of the nationwide flight freeze.
Disruptions have occurred at major hubs, including Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and Philadelphia. The disruptions postponed college sports games and stranded professional basketball teams. Passengers slept overnight in airports and competed to rebook their flights; some cancelled their trips entirely.
The logjam is the latest example of the vulnerabilities in the US air traffic system, which is facing twin crises: a shortage of air traffic controllers and an outdated infrastructure.
It was an upgrade to the system that officials have identified as the root cause of the problems that led to the shutdown Friday. As contractor L3 Harris was upgrading copper wires to fibre-optic cables, a router overloaded the system with data requests, disrupting communications.
As a result, tens of thousands of passengers endured a nightmare travel weekend. About 9,000 flights were cancelled Friday, according to Cirium, while about 30% were delayed. As airlines worked to get back on track Saturday, there were still 6,649 cancellations, and more than half of all flights were delayed.
"Our air traffic control system is operating on DECADES-OLD, analog equipment that simply cannot compete with the demands of the 21st century,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on social media.
Officials said Sunday that they expected schedules to return to normal by late in the day or Monday morning. On Sunday, Duffy said the affected facilities in Texas and Arkansas were "secured” and diagnostic testing was underway.
"We have no indication of a foreign cyberattack, and we will continue to investigate alongside the FBI and our federal law enforcement partners,” he said.
