Flight cancellations and delays continue across US after FAA clearance

The FAA has lifted a nationwide US ground stop caused by air traffic control communications problems, though flight delays and cancellations continue.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted a nationwide ground stop imposed on Friday over communications problems at regional air traffic control centres, the Associated Press reports.

The halt caused at least 600 flight diversions and left passengers and several NBA, NHL and college teams stranded.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the outage on an overloaded analogue system, calling for emergency funding from Congress for upgrades.

“Many of our towers are almost 100 years old,” Duffy said. “Our air traffic controllers have leaky roofs. Air conditioning doesn’t work … their elevators don’t work.”

He also warned “it’s going to be slow” getting air traffic back to normal.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a cyberattack, estimating a complete overhaul would cost about $50 billion.

“There was never any lives at risk,” Mullin added.

Airlines are only required to offer free rebooking or refunds for cancelled flights, as an FAA computer problem is considered beyond their control.