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US flight outage sparks delays, cancellations and calls for answers
A nationwide flight ground stop following a communications outage caused thousands of delays and cancellations, prompting Democrats to demand answers from the Trump administration. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joked that he could help stranded passengers rebook or claim refunds, while questioning why backup systems had not prevented such a widespread disruption.
The FAA lifted the stop shortly before 8.30pm ET, after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed ageing hardware that had failed. FlightAware reported at least 8,200 delayed flights and nearly 7,500 cancellations into or out of the US, with more than 1,700 cancellations already reported for Saturday. It was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when Buttigieg was transport secretary; officials said the system needed funding for a complete overhaul.
In short
- A communications outage triggered a nationwide flight ground stop.
- At least 7,500 flights were cancelled and 8,200 delayed.
- Officials cited ageing hardware and called for a system overhaul.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Ultimate irony as shameless ex-Transportation Secretary bemoans being left stranded by flight chaos”.