Hundreds of flights were canceled in the U.S. Northeast due to technical problems at a key regional air traffic control center, hitting every major airport in the New York City area for several hours Monday.
The primary communications line failed at a key Federal Aviation Administration facility in Philadelphia and the backup fiber optic line was inadvertently severed by railroad construction workers. That left controllers without radar or communications.
The outage affected flights to and from Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark and Philadelphia airports.
By Monday evening, flights were resuming at all those airports. However, significant delays were expected through the rest of the day. Some airlines were allowing customers to change flights without charge. The FAA advised travelers to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.
The outage happened just as President Donald Trump and numerous foreign leaders were flying into New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.
The technical problems stem from the same Federal Aviation Administration facility in Philadelphia that caused numerous disruptions at Newark Liberty International Airport in the spring of 2025.
Regional control centers like these have two lines that carry radar and communications data in and out: the primary and the backup. The FAA said a circuit on the primary failed Monday morning, and when the system tried to switch to the backup, workers discovered that the fiber optic line had been cut.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said an Amtrak construction crew was to blame, but Amtrak pointed to a New Jersey Transit construction crew that was working in the area between Newark and New Brunswick, New Jersey.
FAA administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters that the agency was working to restore the primary connection as soon as possible by installing a new circuit on the primary line, while also working to repair the backup fiber optic line. He said it’s not clear how long that will take. Verizon said its technicians are working to restore service as soon as possible.
“That fiber break is probably 13 hours to repair. It’s massive,” Bedford said, according to a video posted online by a CBS transportation reporter. He said that the FAA may be able to install a new circuit to get the primary line working again even before the fiber line is fixed.
The primary circuit that failed is due to be replaced as part of the overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system.
Also Monday, the FAA began testing a new computer system that uses AI to help predict schedule conflicts and weather issues to help air traffic controllers reroute traffic. But that system is initially being tested only in the Washington, D.C., area, so it did not appear to be linked to the outages.
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