Flights have resumed at airports across the northeastern United States following a communications failure that disrupted air traffic on Monday. Travelers still faced some delays and cancellations after the technical problem was repaired, as airlines worked through the backlog.
The outage affected an air traffic control facility in Philadelphia that handles flights in the region. A primary communications connection failed while a backup fiber-optic line in New Jersey had also been severed. The resulting disruption prompted ground stops and affected flights at Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, as well as other Northeast hubs.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the damaged lines had been repaired and airport operations were resuming. Restoring the system did not immediately clear aircraft and crews displaced by the outage: Newark, one of the hardest-hit airports, was still reporting cancellations and delays early Tuesday.
The disruption has renewed attention on the resilience of the nation’s air traffic control communications. Federal officials say planned upgrades will add more backup routes to reduce the risk that another line failure could cause a similar shutdown. Passengers with upcoming flights should check directly with their airline for the latest departure information.
