Air travel across the United States is gradually returning to normal Saturday after a nationwide ground stop Friday disrupted thousands of flights, leaving travelers stranded and airlines scrambling to restore their schedules.
According to flight tracking website FlightAware, nearly 3,800 flights within, into or out of the United States had been canceled as of Saturday morning, while nearly 2,000 others were delayed.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport reported the most disruptions, with 85 cancellations and 54 delays. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport were also among the hardest hit.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) attributed Friday’s nationwide ground stop to a telecommunications outage that forced officials to temporarily suspend departures across the country.
The extraordinary measure grounded flights for hours. Nationwide ground stops are extremely rare, with previous incidents occurring during a computer system outage in 2023 and following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Although the FAA eventually lifted Friday’s restrictions, the disruption created a backlog of flights that could take several days to resolve.
Major airlines have announced accommodations for affected passengers.
United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines are waiving change fees and fare differences for travelers needing to reschedule.
“Thank you for your patience as we work to restore our full schedule,” United Airlines wrote on X. “There are no fees to change your flight, and we’ll waive any fare difference.”
American Airlines is also waiving change fees and offering refunds, although passengers changing flights may still have to pay fare differences.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday morning that flight operations were slowly recovering but warned travelers to expect continued disruptions.
“You will continue to see some delays and cancellations as carriers reschedule flights and reposition aircraft/crews where they are needed most,” Duffy wrote on X.
