FAA System Outage Grounds Flights Across U.S.

US flights were grounded or delayed on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) scrambled to fix a system outage, with passengers told to check with airlines for updates, Jamie Freed, Kumar Singh and Abhijith Ganapavaram reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: The Air Traffic Control Tower at Denver International Airport

The FAA said it had ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures until 9 a.m. ET (1400 GMT or 10 p.m. in Manila) to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information.

Flights already in the air were allowed to continue to their destinations. The FAA said it was working to restore a system that alerts pilots to hazards and changes to airport facilities and procedures that had stopped processing updated information.

"The FAA is still working to fully restore the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system following an outage. While some functions are beginning to come back on line, National Airspace System operations remain limited," the FAA said on Twitter.

A total of 1,230 flights were delayed within, into or out of the United States as of 7.19 am ET (1219 GMT or 8:19 p.m. in Manila), flight tracking website FlightAware showed, without citing reasons. Another 103 within, into or out of the country were also canceled.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic