Kathmandu, November 15: The impact of the nationwide flight grounding in the United States has still not returned to normal. Following a four-hour nationwide ground stop, the resulting disruption led to the cancellation of thousands of flights and affected more than one million passengers.
Although the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the nationwide ground stop on Friday evening, flight cancellations and delays have continued. Air travel is expected to remain affected through the weekend as it takes time to reposition aircraft and flight crews.
According to the flight-tracking service FlightAware, more than 15,000 flights have been canceled so far. This marks the third time in modern U.S. aviation history that flights have been grounded nationwide.
The impact has been felt even more severely at New York-area airports. About 80 percent of flights at LaGuardia Airport have been canceled, while nearly half of the flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport have been halted.
With flights canceled, passengers have been left stranded at the airports. One passenger at LaGuardia Airport said he was informed of his flight cancellation just one hour before departure. Having arrived at the airport in the morning after seeing that the flight was scheduled to be on time, he was notified of the cancellation at the last minute. The airline rebooked his ticket for Monday.
With immediate tickets unavailable on other airlines as well, the passenger said he was forced to spend two additional nights in New York. He stated that he had to find his own place to stay because the airline would not cover hotel expenses.
Meanwhile, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the problem occurred because the country’s air traffic control system is severely outdated. At a press conference held on Friday, he requested an emergency budget of $50 billion from the U.S. Congress to modernize aviation infrastructure.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who also attended the press conference, clarified that there is no indication the flight disruption was caused by a cyberattack. Previously, in January 2023, flights across the U.S. were grounded nationwide after a critical FAA computer system malfunctioned.
Prior to that, U.S. air travel was also disrupted nationwide following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This latest incident has reignited debate over the need to modernize America’s aging air traffic control system.
(News agencies)
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