Follow-Up: More Than 2,500 U.S. Flights Canceled Saturday as Airlines Recover From Nationwide Ground Stop
Airlines across the United States worked on Saturday to recover from the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years, with more than 2,500 flights canceled in the U.S. on Saturday and hundreds more delayed, according to FlightAware, the Associated Press reported on November 14. Passengers were stranded across the country, and professional and college sports teams scrambled for alternative transportation to Saturday games.
The stop was ordered on Friday, November 13, when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted departing flights nationwide over an air traffic control communications problem. It lasted more than four hours and was lifted at about 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, after which only a limited number of domestic flights departed. It was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when another FAA system that sends notices to pilots malfunctioned, and the second since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Trump administration officials said new technology being added to the air traffic control system overloaded antiquated equipment, causing intermittent communications and radar gaps. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House that more than 3,000 flights landed safely on Friday and no one was in danger. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy encouraged NCAA football teams to reach out to the FAA so the agency can prioritize flights for Saturday games.
The ripple effects reached overseas: at London's Heathrow Airport, several flights to and from the U.S. were delayed or canceled on Saturday. Tim Johnson, consumer director at the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, said that while U.S. flights have resumed, there may be follow-on disruption as airlines rebook affected passengers. Officials said the effects could be felt for days, but the system is likely to be operating normally in time for the Thanksgiving travel rush. (Source: Associated Press)
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国纽约州 Long Island MacArthur Airport 航站楼登机口区域（资料图，非本次停飞现场）。AITFFan1 摄，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons 自托管。 / Photo: A gate area at Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York (file photo, not the ground-stop scene). By AITFFan1, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, self-hosted.
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