U.S. flights near normal Monday after FAA’s four‑hour ground stop

U.S. flights are expected to operate close to normal on Monday following a four‑hour nationwide grounding of departures by the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday, with lingering disruptions still evident on Sunday, CNBC reported.

How many flights were affected by the FAA ground stop?

More than 1,600 flights had been cancelled and over 4,000 delayed by noon ET on Sunday, according to FlightAware data cited by CNBC, a sharp drop from the roughly 6,700 cancellations on Saturday and the 9,200 on Sunday when the FAA halted all departures.

What triggered the nationwide shutdown?

The FAA halted take‑offs to implement routine upgrades that replace aging copper‑wire routers with a fiber‑optic system managed by L3Harris Technologies, a reason Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy linked to a router issue in a Saturday statement, and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford described as part of routine maintenance, CNBC said.

How are airlines and travelers handling the fallout?

Airlines have waived change fees, covered fare differences and offered extra pay to pilots and flight attendants to smooth the recovery, CNBC noted. Passengers like Beth Martin, who slept on the tarmac at LaGuardia after a Delta flight was cancelled, and Justine Fritz, who juggled multiple boarding passes and missed a Vikings game, described the chaos and their attempts to make the best of the situation.