From staff and wire reports
NEW YORK — The Federal Aviation Administration has lifted a ground stop on flights across the United States following a computer outage early Wednesday that resulted in thousands of delays quickly cascading through the system at airports nationwide.
Earlier in the morning the FAA ordered all U.S. flights to delay departures until at least 9 a.m. Eastern time. Because of heavy congestion, the FAA cleared flights to depart at Newark Liberty and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airports. The ground stop was lifted nationally by 8:50 a.m.
- A computer outage at the FAA was causing widespread delays on Wednesday morning
- Most delays were concentrated along the East Coast, but were beginning to spread west
- There were reports the FAA planned to pause all departures nationwide until 9 a.m.
The agency said normal air traffic operations were resuming gradually across the U.S. following the outage.
More than 3,700 flights were delayed and more than 640 canceled early in the day.
The FAA said that it continues to look into the cause of the initial problem. Lehigh Valley International Airport spokesperson Colin Riccobon said it was caused by a NOTAM system outage.
Update 5: Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the U.S. following an overnight outage to the Notice to Air Missions system that provides safety info to flight crews. The ground stop has been lifted.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) January 11, 2023
We continue to look into the cause of the initial problem
Riccobon said there were multiple flights delayed at Lehigh Valley International Airport and a "trickle-down effect" expected throughout the day.
"People need to understand that trickle-down effect, and it's important to stay engaged with their airline and have some patience today," Riccobon said.
He explained the trickle-down effect in simple terms:
“So think about that and put it in terms of your own day,” he said. “If you were an hour behind the work that you needed to do, it's certainly going to create some problems.”
Most delays were initially concentrated along the East Coast, but were beginning to spread west.
The FAA said it was working on restoring its NOTAMs. Around 9 a.m., the grounding order was lifted and planes began to take off across the country, including at the Lehigh Valley International Airpot.
“We are performing final validation checks and reloading the system now,” the FAA said, just before flights resumed.. “Operations across the National Airspace System are affected.”
The agency said some functions are beginning to come back on line, but that “National Airspace System operations remain limited.”
More than 21,000 flights were scheduled to take off in the U.S. today, mostly domestic trips, and about 1,840 international flights expected to fly to the U.S., according to aviation data firm Cirium.
The White House said that there is no evidence of a cyberattack, but President Joe Biden directed the Department of Transportation to investigate the cause of the disruption.
President Joe Biden addressed the FAA issue Wednesday before leaving the White House. He said he had just been briefed by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who told him they still had not identified what went wrong.
“I just spoke to Buttigieg. They don’t know what the cause is. But I was on the phone with him about 10 minutes,” Biden said. “I told him to report directly to me when they find out. Air traffic can still land safely, just not take off right now. We don’t know what the cause of it is.”
Buttigieg said in a tweet that he is in touch with the FAA and monitoring the situation.
I have been in touch with FAA this morning about an outage affecting a key system for providing safety information to pilots. FAA is working to resolve this issue swiftly and safely so that air traffic can resume normal operations, and will continue to provide updates.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) January 11, 2023
Most delays were concentrated along the East Coast, but were beginning to spread west. Inbound international flights into Miami International Airport continued to land, but all departures have been delayed since 6:30 a.m., said airport spokesman Greg Chin.
United Airlines said that it had temporarily delayed all domestic flights and would issue an update once it learned more from the FAA. American Airlines said that it was closely monitoring the situation.
Julia Macpherson was on a United Airlines flight from Sydney to Los Angeles on Wednesday when she learned of possible delays.
“As I was up in the air I got news from my friend who was also traveling overseas that there was a power outage,” said Macpherson, who was returning to Florida from Hobart, Tasmania. Once she lands in Los Angeles, she still has a connection in Denver on her flight to Jacksonville, Florida.
She said there have been no announcements on the flight about the FAA issue.
Macpherson said she had already experienced a delay in her travels because her original flight from Melbourne to San Francisco was canceled and she rebooked a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles.
Before commencing a flight, pilots are required to consult NOTAMs, or Notices to Air Missions, which list potential adverse impacts on flights, from runway construction to the potential for icing. The system used to be telephone-based, with pilots calling dedicated flight service stations for the information, but has now moved online.
There is a potential for widespread disruption because of the outage. All aircraft are required to route through the system, including commercial and military flights.
European flights into the U.S. appeared to be largely unaffected.
Irish carrier Aer Lingus said services to the U.S. continue, and Dublin Airport’s website showed that its flights to Newark, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles were running on schedule.
“Aer Lingus plan to operate all transatlantic flights as scheduled today,” the carrier said in a prepared statement. “We will continue to monitor but we do not anticipate any disruption to our services arising from the technical issue in the United States.”
The FAA said that it would provide frequent updates as it made progress.
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LehighValleyNews.com reporters Stephanie Sigafoos and Julian Abraham contributed to this report.
AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this report from Washington, D.C. AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan contributed from London. AP reporter Freida Frisaro contributed from Miami. AP Airlines Writer David Koenig contributed from Dallas.