Nationwide ground stop followed contractor upgrade to L3Harris telecommunication system: DOT’s Duffy

United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy (R )speaks along with FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford( L)throughout a press instruction at the Department of Transportation head office structure in Washington, DC, on November 14, 2026.

Aaron Schwartz|Afp|Getty Images

The longest stop in flight departures to U.S. airports because 9/11 followed updates to a telecom system handled by specialist L3Harris TechnologiesTransportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated Saturday, as numerous countless tourists were stranded by sticking around interruptions.

There was “zero evidence” that the issue was triggered by something “nefarious” or anything associated to expert system, Bryan Bedford, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, stated at an interview with Duffy.

The upgrades at “at least” one remote place belonged to continuous work of changing from a copper wire system to fiber, Duffy stated.

A router had “flooded” other routers in the air traffic control system with over 1,000 connection efforts approximately every 5 seconds, the secretary stated, developing issues with aircraft interactions and radar feeds.

The failure once again thrust aging facilities that underpins U.S. air traffic control service into the spotlight, together with the nation’s battles to change areas of it while running the world’s busiest airspace.

“What we’re working to determine was whether we had incompetence, meaning was it user error, installator error from L3 Harris, or did they install a faulty router,” he stated.

L3Harris stated it is “supporting the FAA in its investigation to understand the conditions that led to the Nov. 13 ground stop of our nation’s air travel.”

L3Harris stated it has actually finished more than 70% of the switch from copper circuitry to fiber-optic system.

Duffy took the groundstop to look for billions more from legislators to improve the system.

Bedford stated no FAA centers went dark however that authorities chose to ground flights due to the fact that of “instability” in info feeds to air traffic control service centers that manage en path airplane at high elevations and ultimately to others closer to airports.

“We were unwilling to take any risk that this propagation could actually result in a center losing connectivity with aircraft,” stated Bedford. He stated authorities weren’t sure for about 45 minutes what was triggering the instability.

Flight interruptions advanced Saturday. Almost 6,500 U.S. flights were canceled Saturday and more than 8,000 were postponed since 9 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. That’s on top of more than 9,000 U.S. flight cancellations, about a 3rd of the day’s schedule, and more than 7,000 hold-ups on Friday, though some disturbances was because of bad weather condition.

Friday had the second-highest U.S. flight cancellations because an extreme blizzard and below-freezing temperature levels in January, according to aviation-data company Cirium.

Part of untangling from the ground stop consists of getting airplane where they require to be. The ground stop required numerous airplanes to divert to other airports, while lots of aircrafts needed to park with restricted gate area since flights could not leave.

Airline companies run among the lightest schedules on Saturday and are releasing as lots of extra aircrafts and teams as possible to get tourists and workers where they require to be as they’re excited to begin fresh for the upcoming Thanksgiving vacation duration.

Delta Air Lines used teams double pay to get journeys and provided validated seats on flights to get them into position, according to internal business messages CNBC saw. United Airlines was likewise providing pilots and flight attendants additional pay to get flights through Sunday, according to individuals knowledgeable about the matter.

American, in addition to other airline companies, stated it would alter consumers ‘tickets at no charge or fare distinction if the interruption impacted their strategies which it would top some air travels.

Around 3 million individuals were arranged to fly on Saturday, according to Cirium.

The FAA had actually stopped leaving U.S. flights around 4 p.m. ET on Friday, a ground stop that lasted more than 4 hours, the longest such time out on leaving flights in 25 years.

It was the 2nd time the FAA has actually provided an across the country ground stop because the Sept. 11, 2001, fear attacks. Trump administration authorities have actually consistently stated it did not seem a cyberattack.

The U.S. has the world’s busiest airspace.

“Before clearing flights to resume, we thoroughly tested our systems to confirm they were stable and that operations remain reliable,” the FAA stated late Friday.

The disturbance likewise overthrew travel for NBA, NHL and college groups, which had a hard time to reach their locations in time for video games this weekend.

A basic view of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Nov. 13, 2026, as guests deal with hold-ups and strandings after the FAA released an across the country ground stop for all flights.

Anadolu|Anadolu|Getty Images

Duffy stated college football groups taking a trip on charter flights might get top priority.

“I would encourage those football teams to reach out to the FAA to schedule their flight times and make sure they have games going off tomorrow,” he stated throughout a Friday press instruction.

The Southeastern Conference revealed on X that some video games had actually been transferred to Sunday due to the flight interruption.

“We are in close communication with our member institutions to assess potential disruptions and coordinate appropriate responses,” the SEC stated in a declaration shared on X.

The National Football League stated that it is putting in 3 backup referees for 3 video games on Sunday due to the fact that of the ground stop, “reassigning officials to games within driving distance of their hometowns.”

— CNBC’s April Roach and Jessica Golden added to this short article.