US flights halted nationwide after FAA communications outage

US flights halted nationwide after FAA communications outage

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered a nationwide ground stop following a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control operations, suspending departures across the country. Flights already airborne have been allowed to continue to their destinations while authorities work to resolve the disruption.

More than 10,000 flights were delayed and over 2,000 cancelled, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, with CBS News reporting that a  software update to a private communications network connecting air traffic control facilities across the US caused the system to reboot and crash, triggering the outage.

The nationwide ground stop is the first since January 2023, when an FAA computer system malfunction disrupted operations. The previous major halt followed the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 reported just 1,000 flights heading to US airports, down nearly 80 percent from more than 4,500 a week earlier.

* JetBlue Airways reported departure delays, saying it was monitoring developments and would resume operations once authorities permitted flights to take off.

* Air Canada warned that flights to and from the Caribbean and South America could be affected, advising passengers to check its app for updates.

* Britain's Civil Aviation Authority warned travellers of disruption to flights to, from and within the US, urging passengers to check with airlines.