How US Airlines Handled the FAA System Failure

The United States Government revealed the root cause of the ground stop created by the system failures at the Federal Aviation Administration was a mistake that occurred during routine scheduled systems maintenance.

According to The Associated Press, an engineer replaced the wrong file during routine maintenance, leading FAA staff on an intense hunt to find the problem, as over 10,000 flights were delayed and another 1,300-plus were canceled on Wednesday.

“It was an honest mistake that cost the country millions,” an official told The AP.

We are working diligently to further pinpoint the causes of this issue and take all needed steps to prevent this kind of disruption from happening again. (2/2)

— The FAA (@FAANews) January 11, 2023

As for how each carrier was impacted, 49 percent of Southwest Airlines flights were delayed, 48 percent for American Airlines, 40 percent for United Airlines, 38 percent for Delta Air Lines and 33 percent for JetBlue.

For impacted travelers, Delta and United are offering a fare difference waiver, which will give customers additional flexibility to change their flights, even if their journey isn’t delayed or canceled.

If your flight this morning was delayed due to the FAA-issued ground stop, we have issued a travel waiver to allow you the freedom to change your travel plans: https://t.co/anE9hGuZ9r

— United Airlines (@united) January 11, 2023

The ground stop was officially lifted at 8:50 a.m. ET on Wednesday, but flights began departing from Newark and Atlanta airports by 8:15 a.m., as those facilities were impacted the most.

Several major airlines in the U.S. told Reuters that they expect operations to return to normal on Thursday, but FlightAware.com is showing that almost 800 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been delayed or canceled as of 9 a.m. ET.

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“The FAA’s catastrophic system failure is a clear sign that America’s transportation network desperately needs significant upgrades,” U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman said. “Americans deserve an end-to-end travel experience that is seamless and secure.”

“And our nation’s economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system,” Freeman continued. “We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently.”

In addition, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Chair Senator Maria Cantwell also released a statement about the FAA computer issues:

“The number one priority is safety. As the Committee prepares for FAA reauthorization legislation, we will be looking into what caused this outage and how redundancy plays a role in preventing future outages. The public needs a resilient air transportation system.”

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