Topline
Flights across the United States have been massively disrupted Wednesday morning following a Federal Aviation Administration system outage, with airlines including United, reporting temporary delays as technicians work to fix the issue.
Flights have reportedly been grounded across the U.S. following an FAA computer failure.
Key Facts
In a notice posted on its website, the FAA said its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system “failed” Wednesday morning.
The NOTAM system relays vital information and notices to pilots and other flight personnel, for example alerting them to potential hazards or changes to airport services.
The agency said it is working to restore the failed system and said it would “provide frequent updates as we make progress.”
The FAA, which did not provide an indication of when the problem will be fixed, said operations across the entire U.S. airspace system are affected, later adding that though some functions “are beginning to come back on line,” and operations are still “limited.”
The extent of disruption is not yet clear, though multiple news outlets and carriers report delays or grounded flights.
NBC News, citing an unnamed source familiar with the situation, said all U.S. flights had been grounded following the outage.
Big Number
1,230. That’s how many U.S. flights have been delayed into or out of the U.S as of early Wednesday morning, according to FlightAware. More than 100 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been canceled.
What To Watch For
United Airlines, one of the largest U.S. carriers, said it has “temporarily delayed all domestic flights” following the incident and will issue an update once it has learnt more from the FAA. Airports, such as Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, have also advised passengers to expect delays and to check their flight status before traveling.
Further Reading
Flights across the U.S. affected after FAA experiences computer outage (NBC News)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/01/11/flights-across-us-reportedly-grounded-after-faa-computer-failure/