FAA pauses flights at multiple major US airports over equipment outage

The Federal Aviation Administration halted flights at multiple major airports on Monday because of equipment failure in the Philadelphia region, prompting disruptions in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

The flight delays have impacted Philadelphia International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport and the Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

Flights have since resumed at LaGuardia and Philadelphia, but flights into JFK, Newark and Teterboro remain paused.

FAA Administrator Brian Bedford said Philadelphia TRACON lost its primary circuit and controllers discovered a broken fiber-optic cable when they tried to switch to the back-up, according to Fox Business. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said an Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut into a fiber line in New Jersey which caused the telecom outage.

"We know these problems can happen. We know these cuts can happen," Duffy told reporters. "As we work through all the new equipment, all the new architecture of our telecom, which is fans, it all takes money. That's why we have a holistic view of everything, including how we rework our telecom."

United Airlines said the outage has impacted all airlines in the Northeast and that it has issued travel waivers for impacted passengers in Newark.

"Flights that had been destined for Newark have either been held at their departure airport or diverted to alternative airports," United told ABC-6. "Once the FAA outage is resolved, we will work to safely get our customers to their destinations, and have issued a travel waiver to give our customers flexibility to manage their travel plans."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.