US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Sunday, 15 November 2026 that domestic air travel was expected to return to normal by Monday, as airlines worked to reposition aircraft and crews following a nationwide ground stop on Friday that triggered widespread disruption across American airports. The outage, traced to a surge of excessive data through the air traffic control network, grounded or delayed thousands of flights.

What Caused the Disruption

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identified two potential sources of the data flood: a radio communications site in El Dorado, Arkansas, and a radar site in Amarillo, Texas. Network service provider L3Harris had been installing a new router at the Arkansas location at the time of the outage. The FAA said the network stabilised once both locations were isolated, but investigators had not yet established the root cause — including whether the installation work itself or faulty equipment was responsible.

Notably, the FAA confirmed it found no indication of a cyberattack. Some radio frequencies and radar feeds remained available throughout the disruption, allowing air traffic controllers to maintain contact with aircraft already in the sky.

Recovery Efforts and Scale of Impact

Officials disabled the broadcasting function on 69 routers to prevent another surge of data overwhelming the control network. Equipment from the affected sites is being examined at an L3Harris laboratory in Florida, with FAA personnel present. According to the FAA, approximately 3,500 aircraft that were already airborne at the time landed safely, and air traffic resumed at 8:15 pm Eastern on Friday. Airlines continued working through the resulting backlog over the weekend.

Speaking on NBC's 'Meet the Press', Duffy acknowledged that recovery would take time because aircraft and crews had been left out of position. On CBS's 'Face the Nation', he conceded that maintenance timing at remote facilities — previously considered low risk — would now be reassessed.

Duffy Deflects Blame, Cites Years of Underinvestment

Duffy declined to apologise for the state of the air traffic control system, attributing its condition to underinvestment by both Republican and Democratic administrations over many years. 'But I can't apologize for what was passed off to us,' he said. The Secretary confirmed a $50 billion funding request for a new telecommunications architecture, arguing that the $12.5 billion Congress had already approved was earmarked for specific equipment and infrastructure rather than the broader overhaul he is seeking.

Democrats Push Back on Funding Claims

House Democrats challenged the administration's account of its spending record. Representatives Rick Larsen and Andre Carson — the senior Democrats on the House transportation committee and its aviation subcommittee respectively — said on Saturday that the administration had obligated only $4.3 billion of the approved $12.5 billion and spent just $1 billion. They said transportation and FAA officials would brief committee staff on Monday regarding the administration's earlier request for an additional $30 billion, and that the committee would scrutinise the administration's handling of air traffic control upgrades.

What Happens Next

Investigators, with support from the FBI, are continuing to examine the equipment linked to the outage. The FAA and Department of Transportation face mounting congressional pressure to explain both the cause of Friday's disruption and the pace of their infrastructure modernisation programme. The episode has reignited a long-running debate about the ageing state of America's air traffic control systems and the adequacy of federal investment in upgrading them.