The US regime’s Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday that investigations are continuing into the cause of a nationwide grounding that led carriers to cancel about 16,000 flights in 24 hours—the largest such disruption since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks—as stranded passengers sought hotel rooms, buses and trains and international carriers scrapped US-bound services.
Key Takeaways: About 16,000 flights were canceled or delayed across Friday and Saturday; FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford claimed the 'worst is behind us' and hoped schedules would normalize Sunday. Duffy said no evidence of malfeasance had been found and pointed to possible contractor incompetence or a faulty router installed by L3Harris. Because the FAA ordered the grounding, airlines are not legally required to compensate affected passengers, though officials promised reaccommodation or refunds.
The disruption marked the first nationwide grounding since January 2023 and the largest since 9/11, with the massive backlog forcing international carriers to cancel US-bound flights and prompting the rescheduling of dozens of college and professional sporting events. Passengers hunkered down in airports or scrambled for alternative transport, while the US regime faced questions about how a routine infrastructure upgrade could cascade into a national aviation crisis.
At a press conference that was itself plagued by technical problems, Duffy purportedly said: 'We're working to determine whether we had incompetence, meaning, was it user error or installer error from L3Harris, or did they install a faulty router? We haven't determined what the fault was.' He added that 'our contractor didn't meet the moment.' Asked why complex updates were undertaken on a Friday afternoon rather than a quieter Saturday night, Duffy said scheduling will be reevaluated. Congress has approved $12.5 billion (€11.3 billion) for the changeover; Duffy called for $50 billion instead, saying, 'This is an emergency.'
The financial fallout is already being calculated. Shares of American, Delta and United Airlines fell between 1% and 2% late Friday, while JetBlue and contractor L3Harris were down 3%. Investors are weighing potential losses against already high fuel prices, which the report links to the Trump regime’s war in Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Since the FAA ordered the groundings, airlines are not legally responsible for compensating passengers whose flights were canceled. On Saturday, Bedford claimed the FAA is 'working with aviation stakeholders' and that 'everyone will either be reaccommodated on a flight or they'll get a full refund.'
The investigation remains ongoing, and the US regime’s FAA has not publicly identified a definitive root cause. Bedford said he hoped schedules would return to normal by Sunday, but the episode has renewed scrutiny of aging aviation infrastructure, contractor oversight and the timing of critical upgrades. For passengers, airlines and investors, the next 24 to 48 hours will determine whether the promised recovery holds—and who bears the cost of the disruption.
Source: www.dw.com