Flights delayed across the US after FAA system outage

The national system that experienced an outage, Notice to Air Missions — delaying departing flights across the US — is a notice essential to pilots and flight personnel, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"A Notice to Air Missions alerts pilots about closed runways, equipment outages, and other potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight," according to the FAA.

Commercial airline pilots use the NOTAM system for real-time information on flight hazards and restrictions. The FAA stipulates the NOTAM system is not to be relied on as a sole source of information, and so some flights may be able to satisfy safety requirements by using other data.

It is separate from the air traffic control system that keeps planes a safe distance from each other, but it’s another critical tool for air safety.

“It’s like telling a trucker that a road is closed up ahead. It’s critical information,” said Mike Boyd, aviation consultant at Boyd Group International.

Although many flights take place without needing to see one of those notices, it’s important that NOTAM messages reach the pilots, who are trained to check for them.

The acronym previously was called Notice to Airmen, but it was changed in December 2021 to be "inclusive of all aviators and missions" and to send notices to drone operators as well.

The FAA also operates the nation’s air traffic control system, with air traffic controllers using radar to track all planes in their air space and radio communications with their cockpits to guide them safely. The computer systems that are the backbone of ATC system have also been known to go down. But when that happens, it typically only affects one region of country, not the entire nation’s air space.

CNN's Chris Isidore contributed reporting to this post.

Federal officials will conduct a review of the aviation system failure that snarled air traffic Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.

The technology system that failed "is fully restored," he said after an outage that began late Tuesday and led to the Federal Aviation Administration stopping all domestic aircraft departures for a period Wednesday morning.

President Joe Biden said Buttigieg briefed him on the issue and said he expected the FAA would have an idea of the cause "in a couple of hours." 

Following a failure of the Federal Aviation Administration's Notice to Air Missions or NOTAM system, 5,417 flights have been delayed in the United States as of 10:11 a.m. Wednesday, according to data from the flight-tracking site FlightAware.

There have also been 908 flight cancellations, FlightAware shows.

The number of cancellations and delays has continued to climb despite the agency lifting a ground stop that it issued earlier on Wednesday morning following an outage to the system that provides pilots with notices they need before flying.

About the NOTAM system: It send alerts to pilots to let them know of conditions that could affect the safety of their flights. It is separate from the air traffic control system that keeps planes a safe distance from each other, but it’s another critical tool for air safety.

NOTAM messages could include information about lights being out on a certain runway, or a tower near an airport not having the required safety lights working, or an air show taking place in the air space nearby.

“It’s like telling a trucker that a road is closed up ahead. It’s critical information,” said Mike Boyd, aviation consultant at Boyd Group International.

Although many flights take place without needing to see one of those notices, it’s important that NOTAM messages reach the pilots, who are trained to check for them.

The FAA also operates the nation’s air traffic control system, with air traffic controllers using radar to track all planes in their air space and radio communications with their cockpits to guide them safely. The computer systems that are the backbone of ATC system have also been known to go down. But when that happens, it typically only affects one region of country, not the entire nation’s air space.

NOTAM is a national system, so its failure Wednesday meant that flights across the country were ordered not to take off for a couple of hours before they were cleared to fly again shortly before 9 a.m. ET.

Rep. Rick Larsen, the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Wednesday that the failure of Federal Aviation Administration's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system “begs the question about the current state of the technology infrastructure at the FAA.”

“Members of Congress are going to want to see the results of that after-action report,” he said.

“There are a lot of questions that I have and I know that my colleagues will have about the root causes of this problem,” he said.

He pointed to the FAA Authorization bill as an opportunity this year “to examine this very question and hopefully maybe if we need to make some improvements, make some funding increases so that can improve the system.”

Larsen, who said he spoke to Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg this morning on the situation, said Buttigieg told him “that he called for this ground stop because ... pilots were without one of the tools they have to understand the situational awareness in the air space. That was why we had to call the ground stop nationwide.”

Leah Blaine and her family were sitting on a plane in Hawaii's Kahului Airport for five hours before they were informed that their Maui flight to Dallas had been canceled due to the FAA outage that impacted flights across the country on Wednesday, Blaine tells CNN. 

Blaine’s final destination was getting back to Kansas City after her flight to Dallas. She was informed around 10 p.m. local time Tuesday that her flight was unable to depart and would be delayed.

“At first, they told us it was an American Airlines computer error, but recently they came on the PA and told us it is a FAA issue, and that planes were grounded all over,” Blaine said.

Blaine said passengers were given the option to disembark and wait in the airport, but she chose to stay on the plane since she was traveling with younger passengers who were already asleep. 

“My daughter is asleep on my shoulder, so we chose to stay on the airplane.” Blaine said. “I feel bad for the flight attendants they have been doing the best they can to make sure we have water and food." 

Five hours after Blaine’s flight was initially scheduled to take off, the family was then informed that the flight had been canceled altogether. “They said the flight timed out while waiting for the FAA system to come back on,” Blaine said.

After announcing the flight cancellation, the airline returned the family’s checked luggage and is assisting the family with trying to find a hotel they can stay in, Blaine said. “At first, they said hotel rooms were all full. Now they’ve sent us to the ticket counter to try to figure it out."

CNN reached out to American Airlines for a comment.

United Airlines warned passengers Wednesday that they may continue to see delays and cancellations after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted a ground stop that was implemented due to a system outage.

The airline also said it would issue a travel waiver and offer refunds.

"Customers may continue to see some delays and cancellations as we work to restore our schedule and should check the United app or united.com for the latest information about their individual flight. United has activated a travel waiver for any customers who need to change their plans, including offering refunds for customers who no longer want to travel," according to a statement.

The FAA said it has lifted a ground stop that brought flights to a virtual standstill.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, a system outage had caused massive disruptions at airports across the US.

The agency hasn't immediately indicated what caused the outage to occur.

“We continue to look into the cause of the initial problem,” the tweet said. 

Matt DeSarle was at University Park Airport in State College, Pennsylvania, waiting to take a departing flight when he was informed that all flights were being grounded.

He then took a video of American Airlines passengers disembarking a plane after the FAA announced that domestic flights were being grounded till 9 a.m. ET: “This is a nationwide issue, it’s not just a local issue.”

Watch the moment:

The latest numbers from flight-tracking site FlightAware show more than 4,000 delays and nearly 700 flight cancellations across the US.

The disruptions come after an outage of the Notice to Air Missions system, which provides pilots with notices they need before flying.

The FAA said some airports, including Atlanta and Newark, are beginning to have departures.