US air travel is not expected to return to normal schedules until late on Sunday, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said, as the aviation system gradually recovers from a nationwide flight shutdown that officials blamed on routine maintenance gone awry.
asserted
officials → expect → maintenance
As of 9:35 pm Saturday ET (7:35 am Sunday PKT), airlines had cancelled more than 6,400 US flights and delayed more than 8,000, according to FlightAware, an aviation website.
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airlines → cancel → FlightAware
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.
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FAA → follow → communications
FlightAware said 875 flights scheduled for Sunday were already cancelled.
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flights → say → Sunday
FAA head Bryan Bedford said on Saturday that he expected airline operations to largely return to normal by late Sunday.
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operations → say → Sunday
He also apologised for the disruption, adding that the system remains stable.
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system → apologise → disruption
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday that halted nearly all departing flights for almost five hours.
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that → issue → hours
The issue prompted the White House to convene an emergency meeting in the Situation Room on Friday and federal agencies to scramble to determine if it was a cyberattack.
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it → prompt → Friday
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 on Saturday.
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Duffy → trace → Saturday
“We’re working to determine whether we had incompetence, meaning was it user error or installer error from L3Harris, or did they install a faulty router?
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they → work → router
We haven’t determined what the fault was,” Duffy said at a press conference.
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Duffy → determine → conference
The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union representing FAA safety employees, said the issue was isolated to two routers that were updated Friday.
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that → represent → routers
An official told Reuters it was believed the routers were in Arkansas and Texas.
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routers → tell → Arkansas
An FAA official said the agency conducted a safety assessment before the work.
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agency → say → work
The union said PASS-represented technicians were not involved in the upgrades that led to the ground stop.
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that → say → stop
L3Harris said it took the issue seriously and is supporting the FAA in its investigation.
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it → say → investigation
Its shares last traded down about four per cent after hours on Friday.
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shares → trade → Friday
The Trump administration previously blamed the mess on a botched replacement of old copper wire communication lines.
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administration → blame → lines
Though the FAA lifted the ground stop — meaning no planes can take off — on Friday evening, the disruption for passengers was far from over, with tens of thousands of people stranded in airports.
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thousands → lift → airports
Airlines were trying to get flight crews and other personnel in position to resume flights.
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crews → try → flights
It sparked widespread chaos and left hundreds of thousands of passengers in limbo, with some pulled off planes moments before they were due to depart by airline staff who appeared in the dark about unfolding events.
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who → spark → events
Yeah, you know, it’s just a mess, right?”
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it → know → ?
Lisa Beraid, 48, who works for an insurance company, told AFP as she waited for a flight Saturday morning at New York’s La Guardia airport.
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she → work → airport
Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Bedford offered a “sincere apology to the American travelling public.”
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Bedford → speak → public
He predicted a full resumption of flight schedules by “close of business on Sunday.”
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He → predict → Sunday
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday’s four-hour ground stop was declared after maintenance work to upgrade an old copper wire to a high-speed fiber cable had caused “issues” with communication with airplanes and radar feeds.
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work → say → airplanes
“Either through contractor error or a faulty piece of equipment… it started flooding other routers in our air traffic control system,” Duffy told reporters.
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Duffy → start → reporters
In another embarrassment, Saturday’s news conference — where administration officials also appealed for more funds to upgrade outdated systems — was delayed due to technical problems with the audio feed.
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officials → appeal → feed
Duffy said the trouble began on Friday afternoon, when air traffic control centres experienced instability in radar and communications systems.
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centres → say → systems
The router issue led to data overloading other communications centres, officials said.
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officials → lead → centres
“We had over 1,000 connection attempts every four to five seconds, and what that did was (it) gave us issues with our communication with airplanes, and it also caused some disruption with our radar,” Duffy added.
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Duffy → have → radar
The issue affected communications at 17 of the FAA’s 22 en route centres, which control aircraft during the cruise portion of a flight.
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which → affect → flight
Bedford said the FAA ordered the ground stop in case a centre lost all communications.
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centre → say → communications
“No facilities went dark.
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facilities → go → ?
Nothing was fully lost,” Bedford added.
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Bedford → lose → ?
The FAA said it was doing additional testing with L3Harris to see if there are any additional risks.
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it → say → L3Harris
Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines all canceled about 25pc of their flights on Saturday, while JetBlue canceled nearly 45pc.
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JetBlue → cancel → 45pc
Airlines have issued travel waivers allowing passengers to rebook flights for later dates without cost.
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passengers → issue → cost
Funds sought to fix system strain
Friday’s disruption is the latest and most dramatic sign of strain on a US air traffic control system beset by ageing technology, equipment and communications problems and a shortage of several thousand controllers.
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disruption → seek → controllers
Duffy called on Friday for $50 billion in funding to upgrade air traffic control systems, up from his earlier request of $30 billion after Congress approved $12.5 billion last year.
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Congress → call → billion
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
