US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Friday, 14 November 2026 urged Congress to approve $50 billion in fresh funding to overhaul the country's ageing air traffic control infrastructure, hours after a nationwide ground stop grounded thousands of flights and stranded passengers across the United States. The appeal came at a late-night briefing after one of the most widespread aviation disruptions the country has seen in recent years.

What Triggered the Ground Stop

The disruption began at approximately 3:36 p.m. EST when radar and communications turned unstable at air traffic control centres and terminal radar approach facilities, known as TRACONs. Duffy said older switches and routers carrying telecommunications data had become overloaded, causing inconsistent radar and communications feeds at facilities responsible for managing aircraft across the country.

More than 3,500 aircraft were airborne when the failure began. Controllers and pilots followed established emergency procedures to bring all aircraft down safely. Duffy confirmed that radar and communications were never completely lost during the episode.

When the Ground Stop Was Lifted

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s command centre issued a notice cancelling the nationwide ground stop at 8:19 p.m. EST. However, Duffy cautioned passengers that flights would not immediately normalise — airlines still had to determine crew availability, and some travellers might not reach their destinations until the following day.

Emergency medical, organ transport, and law enforcement flights were permitted to continue operating throughout the disruption.

Cyberattack Ruled Out — For Now

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said investigators had found no evidence of a cyberattack at the time of the briefing but stressed that the probe was ongoing and that nothing had been formally ruled out. He also clarified there was no connection to a separate Microsoft outage that coincided with the disruption.

When asked whether an FAA system-patching effort had inadvertently caused the outage, Duffy said it had not, though he later cautioned that his team was still examining the full sequence of events and that he did not want to provide incorrect information about the root cause.

The Funding Call and What It Means

Congress has already allocated $12.5 billion for air traffic control modernisation, Duffy noted, but described that figure as insufficient to complete the broader overhaul. His call for an additional $50 billion is a funding request, not an approved appropriation, and will require Congressional action.

Duffy acknowledged that newer equipment that had already been installed did not experience the same failure, lending weight to arguments that the ageing legacy network is the core vulnerability. He warned that further failures were possible while older equipment remained in service, but said he expected operations to be fully restored before the busy Thanksgiving travel period.

What Passengers Should Do

Duffy urged all passengers to check directly with their airlines for the latest flight status, as carriers work through crew scheduling and aircraft repositioning in the wake of the disruption. The FAA outage adds pressure to an aviation system already stretched thin ahead of one of the highest-traffic weeks of the year in the United States.