FAA Lifts Nationwide Ground Stop After More Than Four Hours, as Duffy Blames Overloaded Equipment

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a cyberattack, though the investigation continues. The Kyiv Independent noted that CNN, citing an airline source, reported a router problem that began at Chicago Midway, and that authorities were checking whether the nationwide rollout of an AI-assisted air traffic management system played any part. Officials have not established that it did.

How many flights were cancelled or delayed?

FlightRadar24 counted more than 4,700 cancellations and 10,000 delays on Friday, plus about 700 cancellations already logged for Saturday, according to Al Jazeera. At least 827 flights were diverted by early evening, it said, 670 of them returning to their departure airports. At Chicago, CBS counted 675 cancellations at O'Hare and 37 at Midway.

Duffy acknowledged that tens of thousands of people were stranded. United Airlines said it was resuming operations, including some Friday night departures, ABC News reported in its live coverage.

What happens next for air travel and Thanksgiving?

Duffy told reporters recovery would be slow, asked Congress for $50 billion to modernise air traffic control and warned, "You will have more of these" without upgrades, ABC reported. Al Jazeera said a September Government Accountability Office report had warned about ageing cables and poorly timed system changes.

He said he expects normal capacity by the Thanksgiving peak, which begins in under two weeks. An aviation safety expert quoted by Al Jazeera cautioned that even after a fix, crews and aircraft out of position could take more than a day to reset. Passengers were advised to check flight status directly with their airlines, and Duffy's funding request now goes to Congress.