The Federal Aviation Administration returned to normal procedures at all of its en route air traffic control centers Saturday morning and is prioritizing departures in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington areas as carriers recover from Friday’s nationwide ground stop. Around 4,000 domestic and international flights in the US were canceled Saturday, according to FlightAware, including 40% of JetBlue’s schedule, 20% of Delta’s, 18% of United’s and 15% of American Airlines’ flights, while another 1,500 flights were already scrubbed for Sunday.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said planes are taking off and it is safe to fly, though delays and cancellations will continue as airlines reposition aircraft and crews after more than 9,000 flights were canceled Friday. A senior government source told CBS News that the faulty equipment behind the four-hour shutdown was identified and isolated to a specific type of router dating back two decades that became overwhelmed for an unclear reason.
