The widespread travel disruptions began Friday after a communication cable upgrade failed, leaving airlines struggling to reposition planes and staff nationwide. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy resisted resignation calls and cited radar equipment dating back to the 1960s as evidence of a fragile network. Duffy and President Donald Trump have asked Congress to allocate $50 billion to overhaul the nation's outdated air traffic control systems. While the administration blamed the previous leadership for the Federal Aviation Administration's woes, Democrats argued that Republican congressional leaders failed to act over the past two years.
Key points
A full normalization of United States air travel operations is not expected to occur unti…: A full normalization of United States air travel operations is not expected to occur until Monday.
Transportation officials point to outdated infrastructure, including radar equipment from…: Transportation officials point to outdated infrastructure, including radar equipment from the 1960s, as a core system vulnerability.
Political friction has emerged over the crisis as the administration blames predecessors…: Political friction has emerged over the crisis as the administration blames predecessors while opponents highlight recent congressional inaction.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
NEW YORK: The Trump administration said on Sunday (Nov 15) 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administration and said Congress, which his party has controlled for two years, must approve funds to upgrade America's outdated air traffic control system.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 on Saturday that…
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