US Transport Secretary: Airspace Reopened for Navigation

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the cancellation of its decision to halt air traffic across the United States due to “exceptional circumstances related to communications.”

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, speaking at a joint press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Marco Rubio, said, “We have reopened the airspace, but air traffic will be slow.” He added that efforts would be made to operate as many flights as possible, provided the necessary crews are available.

He noted, “I believe it will take some time to return to full capacity. We will need some time to address the repercussions of what has occurred.”

Duffy explained that the FAA had observed radar instability, with communication issues emerging between aircraft and radar systems. He pointed out that approximately 3,500 aircraft were in the air at the time the decision to ground flights was made.

He continued, “The White House mobilized all intelligence resources to assist us. We spoke with President Trump several times regarding what was happening in the airspace during the grounding process.”

Duffy highlighted that “our air navigation system is very outdated, and many control towers are over 100 years old,” adding, “We now need $50 billion for air traffic control modernization.”

He stated, “What we witnessed today is not an isolated incident. There have been previous repeated disruptions, not just at the national level, and this is a persistent problem that must be fixed. Air traffic controllers work in buildings with leaking roofs and malfunctioning air conditioning systems.”

The U.S. Transportation Secretary emphasized that “when we have a new, advanced air navigation system based on the latest technologies, we will not experience such failures.”

For his part, Homeland Security Secretary Marco Rubio stated that there was no cyberattack behind the federal authorities’ decision to halt flights, confirming that the investigation into the incident was ongoing to determine its causes.

He assured that there was no threat to life during the air traffic disruption, noting that the Federal Aviation Administration had managed the situation. He added, “We prepared ourselves to handle crises of this nature, and that is exactly what we are doing.” Rubio denied any link between the FAA incident and the recent technical issues affecting Microsoft’s email services.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump told Fox News that the U.S. flight grounding was not caused by a cyberattack or artificial intelligence.

Earlier, the FAA had announced a comprehensive ban on takeoffs at all U.S. airports “following a communications failure.”

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on the platform X (formerly Twitter): “The FAA has decided to impose a comprehensive ban on takeoffs at all U.S. airports following a communications failure that affected all air traffic control centers.”

Duffy added, “FAA technicians are investigating this failure.”

In an unprecedented move since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the U.S. federal agency ordered all aircraft preparing for takeoff to remain on the ground until further notice due to “exceptional circumstances” and “safety concerns.”

Citing sources in the U.S. aviation sector, CNN reported that the FAA informed airlines that the communications disruptions were caused by a malfunction in network routing devices.

The news network also quoted a well-informed source as saying that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was present in the White House Situation Room during the handling of the airport crisis.

U.S. media reported that more than 13,000 flights were delayed or canceled at airports across the United States.

Meanwhile, Fox News reported that Amtrak, the national rail operator in the United States, is experiencing issues with its website and mobile app.