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By Hollie Silverman
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul called for Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to resign or for President Donald Trump to remove him on Saturday, after a communications failure prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue a nationwide ground stop for hours on Friday, triggering thousands of flight cancellations and delays.
“Sean Duffy must resign, or President Trump must remove him immediately,” the Democratic governor wrote on X. “America’s airspace ground to a halt yesterday, leaving thousands of flights canceled and travelers stranded across the country. More than 3,500 planes were already in the air as radar and communications systems faltered. We’re fortunate no lives were lost. From chronic air traffic controller shortages to repeated communications breakdowns, serious lapses in our aviation system have become a pattern on Sean Duffy’s watch."
Hochul also called for a congressional investigation into the disruption.
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"With millions of Americans preparing to travel for the holidays, families deserve answers and confidence in the safety of our skies," she wrote. "Congress must launch a full investigation to determine what went wrong and ensure it never happens again."
Duffy said Saturday that the FAA had returned to full operations, though airlines were still contending with thousands of cancellations as well as displaced aircraft and crews.
Officials said investigators were examining routine maintenance work on the FAA’s telecommunications network, though they had not yet determined whether the fault stemmed from human error, installation or configuration issues, or defective equipment.
“This was an FAA system that didn’t meet the moment. Our contractor didn’t meet the moment or the equipment didn’t meet the moment, and caused the outages,” Duffy said, noting that investigators are reviewing the performance of network provider L3Harris Technologies.
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Friday’s halt was the third nationwide ground stop in modern FAA history, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and a January 2023 failure of the Notice to Air Missions system. It was the longest nationwide shutdown since 9/11.
The incident renewed scrutiny of the aging technology underpinning parts of the nation’s air traffic infrastructure just ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel period, when millions of Americans are expected to fly.
The FAA halted departures after instability appeared in the telecommunications network carrying radar and voice data to air traffic facilities. Planes already airborne were not ordered to land immediately. Duffy said roughly 3,500 aircraft were in the air when the ground stop was issued and credited controllers and pilots with safely managing the traffic.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote on X Saturday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had activated its National Response Coordination Center and all 10 regional centers to coordinate with federal, state and local officials amid the travel disruptions. He noted that no requests for federal assistance had been made and that state and local authorities were handling operational needs.
Duffy said the disruption underscores the urgency of modernizing the air traffic control system. Congress appropriated $12.5 billion in 2025 for modernization efforts, and Duffy is seeking $50 billion more for a broader overhaul.
“We have the safest airspace in the world,” Duffy told reporters Saturday, adding that the nation should not have to depend on controllers and pilots compensating for unstable technology.
“We should be able to rely on our air traffic control system,” he said
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment Saturday.
What Caused the Outage?
The FAA first detected instability and inconsistent radar and communications data at air traffic facilities around 3:36 p.m. EDT Friday. A nationwide ground stop took effect at about 3:54 p.m., keeping departing flights on the ground while officials investigated. The airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m.
According to Duffy, the investigation centers on routine maintenance at at least one remote FAA site, where personnel working on the L3Harris-managed telecommunications network were transitioning service from an aging copper line to fiber.
Duffy said a router involved in the transition began flooding other network routers, generating more than 1,000 connection attempts every four to five seconds. That surge of data caused inconsistent radar and communications feeds at air traffic facilities. Officials isolated the affected system, allowing the network to recover.
“We haven’t determined what the fault was,” Duffy said, noting investigators are examining whether human error, improper configuration or faulty equipment was to blame.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford emphasized that air traffic control facilities never went completely dark.
“Nothing went down,” Bedford said on Saturday. “What we saw was instability and we couldn’t explain the instability.”
Duffy likewise said the agency did not lose all radar or telecommunications capabilities. Federal officials said they found no evidence of a cyberattack or artificial intelligence involvement.
The maintenance was performed on legacy telecommunications infrastructure and was separate from the $12.5 billion modernization program. Earlier in November, the FAA reported it had replaced 69% of its copper communications lines as part of ongoing system upgrades.
Cancellations Linger Into the Weekend
Flight disruptions continued Saturday even after the FAA restored full operations.
As of 11:33 a.m. ET Saturday, FlightAware reported 3,803 cancellations and 2,145 delays involving flights within, into or out of the United States.
Worldwide, FlightAware recorded 4,235 cancellations and 11,198 delays at that time.
The disruption followed an exceptionally difficult Friday for travelers. FlightAware data cited by news organizations showed roughly 9,100 U.S.-linked cancellations and more than 7,000 delays during the day.
Airlines continued to face significant logistical problems Saturday because aircraft, pilots and flight attendants were left out of position by the nationwide ground stop.
Bedford said approximately 50,000 flights had been scheduled for Friday. About 30,000 had been completed or were already in the air by the time of the shutdown, leaving about 20,000 still to operate.
Airlines were ultimately able to recover around 8,000 of those flights, Bedford said on Saturday. Approximately 12,000 could not be recovered, including roughly 9,000 commercial flights and 3,000 private or general aviation flights.
Bedford forecast that between 4,000 and 5,000 of approximately 41,000 scheduled flights could be canceled Saturday as airlines worked to recover.
“We will still have delays and cancellations today, but that will set us up for a full recovery tomorrow,” he said.
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What Happens Next
Carriers are expected to spend the weekend repositioning aircraft and crews, with Bedford estimating that normal schedules should be restored by the close of business Sunday.
“I do think the worst is behind us, but we still do have a significant amount of recovery work to do,” he said.
Meanwhile, the FAA and Transportation Department are conducting a root-cause investigation into the equipment, installation and contractor work tied to the outage.
Duffy said the agency will also review when such maintenance is scheduled. Friday’s work took place during daytime hours at a remote facility that officials had not anticipated could trigger nationwide disruptions.
“There will be a reevaluation of when we do this work,” Duffy said.
Bedford added that the investigation's findings could reshape how the agency maintains its legacy telecommunications network.
“Whatever we do learn from that, of course we will pivot in terms of how we do future sustainment,” he said.
Travelers are advised to check their flight status directly through airline apps or websites before heading to the airport. Under federal rules, passengers whose flights are canceled are entitled to full refunds if they decline rebooking, travel vouchers or other alternatives, as well as for significant schedule changes if they choose not to travel. However, airlines are generally not required to cover meals, hotels or ground transportation for disruptions deemed outside their control.
Newsweek*’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.* Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Steve Mollman and Anthony Murray.
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