Here’s what we know about the US flight shutdown – and what it means for travel

Resumen detallado

Flights in the US have been cleared for take-off, but the air traffic control system outage is having knock-on effects in Australia. Here’s what we know.

Planes are beginning to fly again in the US after a four-hour telecommunications outage prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground all aircraft. Still, the stoppage will have follow-on effects, including delaying flights in Australia. Here’s everything we know so far.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the halt was imposed after aircraft had intermittent communication with traffic controllers.

“It wasn’t a complete blackout in communication or radar, so we were able to keep some of those communications going,” he said.

“But when you have issues and you can’t immediately communicate and immediately see where aircraft are at, that’s a risk that we’re unwilling to tolerate,” he said.

“As you saw today, we systematically, but slowly, brought down 3500 plus aircraft safely across the national airspace.”

The ground stop caused widespread disruption across the US aviation network, with delays and cancellations likely to have knock-on effects throughout the day. US-bound flights from Australia can now depart after the halt was lifted.

Before announcing that the system was progressively being restored, the FAA said “as en route facilities recover, flights will be allowed to depart” – with flights being released gradually as air traffic control centres recover.

For travellers flying to the US from Australia, airports are monitoring the situation and advising passengers to check directly with their airlines.

Qantas said that the US ground stop caused delays to a few Qantas flights. The airline is continuing to closely monitor the situation and recommends customers check their flights via the Qantas app.

Inicio del artículo, extracto de The Age. Para leer el resto, abra el artículo en el sitio del medio.