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U.S. air travel should be fully recovered from the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years by the end of Sunday, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Saturday.

Bedford said the flights “will still have delays and cancellations” on Saturday but promised that the “worst is behind us.”

His comments came as airlines across the U.S. worked to recover from a ground stoppage that lasted four hours, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.

New technology being added to the nation’s air traffic control system overloaded antiquated equipment and caused “intermittent” communications and radar gaps, leading to the flight shutdown of more than four hours, Trump administration officials said.

Planes were taking flight and landing Saturday, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said. But the effects could be felt for days. Officials say the system will likely return to normal in time to handle the Thanksgiving travel rush.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says aging FAA telecommunications infrastructure caused the outage, not a cyberattack Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press conference that the disruption stemmed from a telecommunications failure tied to decades-old FAA infrastructure during a routine system upgrade. According to Duffy, a contractor was transitioning communications lines from aging copper wiring to fiber-optic connections at a remote FAA facility when the issue occurred.

[twitter]https://twitter.com/SecDuffy/status/2121644940933673410[/twitter] "The FAA may be one of the last institutions still relying on some of this legacy copper infrastructure," Duffy said. Officials said the problem triggered a flood of connection attempts across air traffic control systems, disrupting communications with aircraft and radar data feeds. Duffy said more than 1,000 connection attempts were occurring every four to five seconds, creating concerns about the reliability of communications between controllers and pilots. As a result, the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop. More than 3,500 aircraft were already in the air when departures were halted, according to Duffy. He credited air traffic controllers, pilots, airport authorities and ground crews for safely managing the situation. "When we see communication issues affecting aircraft and radar feeds, safety has to come first," Duffy said. Federal officials said they do not believe the outage was caused by a cyberattack. "Once we isolated the work being done, all systems came back online," Duffy said. "Based on what we've seen, we do not believe this was a cyber event." FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford apologized to travelers affected by the disruption and defended the decision to halt departures nationwide. "We could not determine the cause of the instability within 45 minutes," Bedford said. "The ground stop was implemented to relieve pressure on the system and maintain safety." Duffy renewed his call for Congress to invest more heavily in modernizing the nation's air traffic control infrastructure. He said the FAA has already replaced about 69% of its copper communications network with fiber, installed digital displays at 143 control towers, upgraded 469 radio sites and deployed new voice-switching systems, radar technology and training simulators. Despite the upgrades already underway, Duffy said additional funding is needed to fully modernize what he described as the world's busiest and safest airspace system. President Donald Trump has pledged federal support for the effort, Duffy said, adding that modernization remains one of the administration's top transportation priorities. The FAA says the nation's airspace is operating normally, but travelers are encouraged to check with their airlines for any continuing delays or cancellations.

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Many travelers are still dealing with the impacts of the nationwide ground stop.

Matty K Travel Group advises customers against rushing to cancel flights.

If your flight was cancelled, it is best to check with your travel insurance company to see if the trip is covered.

"If you cancel that flight, the airline is then not obligated to help you at that point,” explained Matthew Kondrup.

Kondrup also recommends keeping a close eye on airline updates even as airports continue to recover from the ground stop.

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The FAA said in a statement that they “thoroughly tested” their systems to confirm they were stable and reliable before clearing flights to resume.

Some flights are departing, and passengers are asked to contact their airlines for flight updates.

An FAA computer problem is considered outside the control of the airlines — much like the weather.

So the only thing the airlines are obligated to do is to offer free rebooking on another flight for travelers who want to continue to their destinations or a refund if their flight was canceled and they decide not to take the trip.

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News 12 speaks with Jim Record, a retired Northwest Airlines captain.

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They encourage travelers to check with airlines for the latest information.

Sec. Duffy says getting planes back in the air will take some time.

At the time of the ground stoppage, there were 3,500 airplanes in the sky.

“And last time I looked, we had less than 400 in the airspace,” Duffy said.

He added, “It’s going to be slow” getting air traffic back to normal.

Sec. Duffy says the system needs funding for a complete overhaul. He estimates it will take approximately $50 billion.

Sec. Duffy says the outage was caused by aging Air Traffic Control technology. He says the system became overloaded with data, causing instability in communications. He says a cyberattack was NOT the cause.

“This is an emergency,” he said, calling on Congress for emergency funding for upgrades.

WASHINGTON (AP) - FAA says airplane departures can resume after agency lifts nationwide ground stop caused by communications problems.

Mullen begins by stating that the public was never in danger.

The airline said only Europe-bound flights out of Boston Logan International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport would be able to depart Friday night.

“We expect disruptions to continue into tomorrow, including additional cancellations,” JetBlue said in a news release.

The airline said that the cancellation of all of its flights to and from the U.S. will last the rest of Friday evening.

The decision was a result of the U.S. ground stop ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Air Canada said flights between Canada, the Caribbean and South America that go through U.S. airspace could also be affected.

JetBlue posted on social media, saying, "Due to the nationwide FAA-mandated ground stop, JetBlue is canceling all remaining flights this evening with the exception of Europe-bound departures from JFK & Boston."

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American Air posted on X saying that "some flights from certain airports are beginning to receive clearance to depart."

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Airlines have begun posting updates about the nationwide ground stop.

United Airlines said, "Flights that are already airborne will continue. New domestic flights will not depart while the ground stop remains in place."

Meanwhile, American Airlines said, "We expect disruption to our schedule for the rest of the day," depending on the duration of the FAA's nationwide ground stop.

Gov. Kathy Hochul released the following statement on the nationwide ground stop of all flights:

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) released the following statement on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) nationwide ground stop of all departing flights:

Homeland Security secretary says currently no indication of an attack (AP) - “There was no indication as of yet this was a nefarious attack against us,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.

All flights in the air are accounted for, he said during a news conference, adding that the public has no reason to be afraid.

The FAA’s ground stop order runs through at least 11 p.m. ET Friday.

The FAA released the following statement on X:

Via FAA:

"There has been a temporary telecommunications outage - out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon because of communications problems at regional air traffic control centers.

The FAA notice said the ground stop was being imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating. This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The government has been working to overhaul the outdated technology that air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12.5 billion for the project last year. Miles of old copper wires have been replaced with fiber optic lines and old radio systems are gradually being replaced at airports across the country.

But much work remains. Duffy has said that another $30 billion will be needed to complete the work, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress to approve it.

The problem appeared similar to a regional air traffic control communication outage in September that snarled hundreds of flights across the Northeast, aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said, except this time on a nationwide scale. It may be linked to the outdated technology used by air traffic controllers.

“If you don’t have that ability, whether it’s because the old wires that they have are just run down or for whatever reason, you’ve got to stop airplanes on the ground,” said Arroyo, who is a former United Airlines pilot. “And not put them in the air where you’re going to risk not being able to communicate with them.”

Friday’s ground stop was different than the one after Sept. 11 because planes were not being told to land immediately and pilots likely were able to communicate with ground controllers at airports, Arroyo said.

Via Secretary Duffy:

"The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them."

(AP) - The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon because of communications problems at regional air traffic control centers. The FAA notice said the ground stop was being imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating. This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that, the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The government has been working to overhaul the outdated technology that air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12.5 billion for the project last year. Miles of old copper wires have been replaced with fiber optic lines and old radio systems are gradually being replaced at airports across the country.

But much work remains. Duffy has said that another $30 billion will be needed to complete the work, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress to approve it.