U.S. flights resumed Saturday after the Federal Aviation Administration halted flight departures across the country for more than four hours on Friday, leading to thousands of flight delays and cancellations.
Disruptions are expected to continue this weekend, even after domestic ground control is lifted at 8:15 p.m. ET on Friday.
“The safety of the flying public is always the FAA’s top priority. The FAA has lifted the ground shutdown and some flight departures are resuming,” the agency said in a message on X Saturday.
“Before authorizing the resumption of flights, we thoroughly tested our systems to confirm that they were stable and that operations remained reliable,” the statement added.
There were more than 6,200 delays and more than 3,400 cancellations as of Saturday morning, according to FlightAware.
The disruption also disrupted travel for NBA, NHL and college teams, who struggled to reach their destinations in time for this weekend’s games.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said college football teams traveling on charter flights could receive priority.
“I would encourage these football teams to contact the FAA to plan their flight schedules and ensure that the games will take place tomorrow,” he said during a press briefing Friday.
The Southeastern Conference announced on X that some games had been moved to Sunday due to flight disruption.
“We are in close communication with our member institutions to assess potential disruptions and coordinate appropriate responses,” the SEC said in a statement shared on X.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the “outdated” air traffic control system posed a “national security risk.” He told reporters Friday that there was no evidence of a cyberattack or an “IS attack,” referring to artificial intelligence.
Duffy added that telecommunications routers were overloaded with data. “They fell,” he said.
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