Politics1 min read

Trump admin warns of another messy air travel day

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The travel nightmare continued Sunday morning as flight-tracking data showed 1,460 cancellations affecting flights into, out of, or within the United States. Federal Aviation Administration chief Bryan Bedford initially hoped for a Sunday evening recovery, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pushed back that projection due to displaced equipment and crews. The disruption originated Friday during flawed upgrade work on communication cables, marking just the second sweeping ground stop since September 11. In response, administration officials are pressing Congress for emergency modernization funds while facing pushback from Democratic lawmakers.

Key points

  • The sweeping nationwide ground stop marked only the second such airspace freeze ordered s…: The sweeping nationwide ground stop marked only the second such airspace freeze ordered since the September 11 attacks.
  • Displaced aircraft and flight crews forced federal officials to extend expected travel di…: Displaced aircraft and flight crews forced federal officials to extend expected travel disruptions well into Monday.
  • Political friction erupted over modernization as Democrats pointed out Republicans have c…: Political friction erupted over modernization as Democrats pointed out Republicans have controlled Congress for the past two years.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

The Trump administration said Sunday the air travel havoc triggered by a no-takeoff order could drag on for another day, pushing back its timetable for a return to normal.

Hundreds more flights were cancelled and questions remained over how such chaos could unfold in the world's largest economy, a country that prides itself on its technological prowess.

Officials blame Friday's huge snafu on faulty work to upgrade air traffic control communication cables.

President Donald Trump on Sunday ended uncharacteristic days of silence on the ground stop, but only to blame his predecessor Joe Biden for the debacle.

Trump insisted he inherited a mess from the Biden administration and said Congress, which his party has controlled for two years, must approve funds to upgrade America's outdated air traffic control system.

"The Biden Administration was an FAA disaster," Trump said, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"Everything they touched turned bad. Big money spent unwisely, making an old and broken system worse than when they began," Trump asserted.

FAA chief Bryan Bedford had said Saturday that air travel for millions of Americans…

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