US air travel is slowly getting back on track, but passengers should not expect a smooth day just yet. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Saturday that flights would continue to face delays and cancellations as airlines recover from the nationwide shutdown.
“Operations are slowly returning to normal this morning. Planes are pushing back, taxiing, and taking off, and it is safe to fly,” Duffy said in a post on X.
Duffy said carriers still have to reschedule flights and move aircraft and crews to where they are most needed, which will lead to further delays and cancellations through the recovery.
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The government is working closely with airlines on this, he said, adding that the top priority is to get stranded travellers home to their families as fast as possible.
He also thanked air traffic controllers, pilots and flight crews who have been “working around the clock”.
Duffy said his department would hold a press briefing at 10:30 am Eastern Time at the US Department of Transportation headquarters. Passengers have been advised to check their flight status directly with their airline and follow the FAA's website, nasstatus.faa.gov, for live airport updates.
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What Led To The Shutdown
The disruption began when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a rare nationwide ground stop, halting departures across the country. It cited “extraordinary circumstances and reasons of safety”, according to the BBC. US officials said a telecommunications outage and a network router failure had hit air traffic control centres nationwide.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no sign of an attack and that all flights were accounted for. Officials also ruled out any link to the global Microsoft IT outage earlier in the week.
The Impact So Far
Close to 7,000 flights were delayed or cancelled, and over 600 planes were diverted, according to flight-tracking data from FlightAware and Cirium. Around 1.5 million passengers were affected, aviation tracking reports estimated. Planes already in the air were allowed to complete their journeys.
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The fallout stretched abroad. Sydney Airport delayed or grounded US-bound flights, and at least 57 flights were affected in Mexico's Quintana Roo state, according to Governor Mara Lezama.
Airlines had issued their own warnings. United and Delta put out travel advisories, United halted domestic departures until the ground stop was lifted, and American Airlines said disruption could last through the day.
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