US air travel disruptions to persist into Sunday, thousands of flights hit

A router malfunction in the FAA communications system triggered widespread flight cancellations and delays across the United States. The disruption renewed scrutiny of ageing air traffic infrastructure and demands for additional modernisation funding.US air travel disruptions are expected to continue into Sunday, with thousands of flights cancelled and delayed following a nationwide shutdown triggered by technical problems. (Photo: Reuters)Air travel disruptions across the United States are expected to continue well into Sunday, with thousands of flights cancelled or delayed as airlines struggle to restore normal operations following a nationwide shutdown triggered by problems in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) air traffic control communications system.FAA chief Bryan Bedford said on Saturday that flight schedules were unlikely to return to normal until late Sunday, even as the agency worked to stabilise operations and address the technical issues behind the disruption.Airlines had cancelled more than 6,150 flights and delayed over 7,300 others across the US by 6.45 pm ET (2345 GMT) on Saturday, according to aviation tracking website FlightAware. The disruption followed an even worse day on Friday, when around 9,200 flights were cancelled and 7,500 delayed. More than 530 flights scheduled for Sunday had also been cancelled by Saturday evening.Bedford apologised to passengers for the disruption, saying the aviation system remained stable and that the FAA expected operations to largely recover by late Sunday. The continuing disruption has left thousands of passengers stranded at airports, with airlines facing the additional challenge of repositioning aircraft, pilots and other crew members to resume regular schedules.TECHNICAL GLITCH BEHIND NATIONWIDE FLIGHT SHUTDOWNThe disruption began on Friday after the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop, halting almost all departing flights for nearly five hours. It was the longest nationwide suspension of air travel since the September 11, 2001 attacks and one of the worst single days for US air travel. The White House convened an emergency meeting in its Situation Room as officials initially examined whether the disruption could have been caused by a cyberattack. However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the problem was traced to the installation of at least one new router by FAA contractor L3Harris at a remote facility.Duffy said the agency was still investigating whether the failure resulted from human error during installation or a faulty piece of equipment."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? We haven't determined what the fault was," he told reporters.L3Harris said it was taking the matter seriously and assisting the FAA with its investigation.According to officials, the router malfunction caused an overload of data at other communications centres, disrupting radar and communication systems used by air traffic controllers.Duffy said the system experienced more than 1,000 connection attempts every four to five seconds, affecting communications with aircraft and causing radar disruptions.The problem affected 17 of the FAA's 22 en route air traffic control centres, which manage aircraft during the cruising phase of flights. Bedford said the ground stop was imposed as a precaution in case any centre lost all communication capabilities. However, no facility completely lost service.The FAA said it was carrying out additional tests with L3Harris to determine whether any further risks remained.AIRLINES CANCEL THOUSANDS OF FLIGHTS AS RECOVERY TAKES TIMEMajor US carriers continued to face widespread cancellations on Saturday. Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines each cancelled around a quarter of their scheduled flights, while JetBlue cancelled nearly 45 per cent, according to FlightAware.Airlines have offered travel waivers allowing affected passengers to rebook their journeys for later dates without paying additional fees.Although the FAA lifted the nationwide ground stop on Friday evening, the impact continued as airlines worked to get aircraft, flight crews and other personnel back into position.The disruption also affected college football teams travelling for matches scheduled on Saturday, with some left stranded on Friday.US SEEKS BILLIONS TO OVERHAUL AGEING AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEMThe disruption has renewed concerns about the condition of the US air traffic control network, which has faced mounting pressure from ageing technology, equipment and communication failures, as well as a shortage of several thousand air traffic controllers.Duffy has called for $50 billion in funding to modernise the system, raising his earlier request of $30 billion. Congress had approved $12.5 billion for upgrades last year.House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Saturday that he supported approving additional funding for air traffic infrastructure this year.Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers Rick Larsen and Andre Carson, who are set to lead the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its aviation subcommittee next year, said they would hold hearings to examine the disruption.They also questioned the pace of spending under the existing modernisation programme, saying the Transportation Department had awarded contracts worth $4.3 billion but spent only $1 billion of the $12.5 billion approved by Congress last year.- EndsWith inputs from Reuters