Thousands of Flights Delayed Across U.S. Following FAA Computer Outage

Following a ground stop of U.S. flights on Wednesday morning, thousands of flights are delayed across the country.

Thousands of flights are delayed this morning following a temporary ground stop ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday morning.

"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 agency announced on Twitter amid what created a chaotic morning for air travel. "The ground stop has been lifted."

The notice was issued after the agency’s Notice to Air Missions system went out, resulting in more than 4,000 flight delays within, into, or out of the U.S. along with more than 700 cancellations, according to flight tracker FlightAware.

President Joe Biden had been briefed about the outage by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted.

“There is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point, but the President directed DOT to conduct a full investigation into the causes,” Jean-Pierre wrote.

United Airlines, which itself delayed more than 500 flights, told T+L in a statement that the airline is offering "a travel waiver for any customers who need to change their plans, including offering refunds for customers who no longer want to travel."

Southwest Airlines, which has been recovering from a Christmas week meltdown that saw thousands of flights canceled, had already delayed more than 1,600 flights on Wednesday, the most of any other U.S. carrier, according to FlightAware. That was followed by American Airlines, which was forced to delay more than 700 flights.

For its part, an American Airlines spokesperson pointed T+L to the company’s statement on Twitter, which said the airline was “closely monitoring the situation and working with the FAA to minimize customer disruptions.”

A spokesperson for Delta Air Lines, which delayed nearly 700 flights, told T+L the airline was “safely focused on managing our operation during this morning's FAA ground stop for all carriers.”

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