US flight chaos continues after nationwide shutdown

Detailed summary

US air travel is not expected to return to normal schedules until later today, the head of the FAA said, as the aviation system gradually recovers from a nationwide flight…

US air travel is not expected to return to normal schedules until later today, the head of the FAA said, as the aviation system gradually recovers from a nationwide flight shutdown that officials blamed on routine maintenance gone awry.

As of 9:35pm ET (2.35am Irish time), airlines had cancelled more than 6,400 US flights and delayed more than 8,000, according to FlightAware, an aviation website.

That followed about 9,200 flights cancelled and 7,500 delayed on Friday after the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop because of disruptions to air traffic communications.

FlightAware said 875 flights scheduled for today were already cancelled.

Federal Aviation Administration head Bryan Bedford said that he expected airline operations to largely return to normal later.

He also apologised for the disruption, adding that the system remains stable.

The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday that halted nearly all departing flights for almost five hours. It was the longest nationwide halt to air travel since the attacks of 11 September 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 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.

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