About 200 flights were canceled at Boston Logan International Airport on Saturday, Nov. 14, the second day of disruption after the Federal Aviation Administration halted departures nationwide on Friday.[1][2][3] Travelers were still trying to rebook flights at the airport on Saturday night.[1]
Related: FAA Lifts Nationwide Ground Stop at 8:15 p.m.; Duffy Says Recovery Will Be Slow.
The count at Logan
Outlets reported different totals at different hours on Saturday. NBC Boston counted 190 cancellations and 47 delays at Logan as of Saturday morning.[1] GBH News, citing FlightAware data, counted 200 cancellations and 90 delays as of 11:30 a.m.[2] CBS Boston reported more than 200 cancellations for the second day in a row.[3]
Massport, which runs the airport, had already logged 144 Saturday cancellations by shortly after 10 p.m. Friday.[4] Across the country, more than 3,000 flights were canceled and 8,000 delayed on Saturday, FlightAware data showed.[5]
The FAA grounded departures shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, and the stop lasted more than four hours.[2] Logan announced around 8:30 p.m. that it had been lifted.[2]
What travelers faced
Long security and check-in lines formed at Logan on Saturday.[2] Some passengers waited hours for checked bags, and others found rental cars and trains sold out.[1]
“I can’t leave this airport. There’s no flights, everything has doubled in price,” Arnold Besteo, who flew to Boston from Ireland, told WBZ-TV.[3] He said no remaining flight would get him to an event in Miami on Saturday.[3]
Logan officials advised passengers to ask their airlines about travel vouchers, fee waivers and rebooking.[3] Delta Air Lines suggested that passengers wait until Monday or later in the week to rebook if they can.[3] Massport told travelers to check their flights and allow extra time.[1]
How long the recovery will take
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the national schedule should be back to normal by the end of Sunday.[2] “I’m sorry that we put you through this, but we did it for the right reasons,” Bedford said at a news conference.[3]
Former Massport officials gave longer estimates for Boston. Ed Freni, a former Massport director of aviation, said normal operations at Logan could resume Monday.[1] Thomas Kinton, a former Massport director, said the recovery would take days.[3]
“Crews time out, the pilots run out of flight time, so they have to cancel flights in place,” Kinton told WBZ-TV.[3] NBC Boston reported that problems at airports nationwide could last until Thanksgiving.[1]
The disruption began on the day Logan reopened Runway 27 after a fall closure. More Logan Airport coverage is on the topic page.
What officials said about the cause
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a contractor was switching telecommunication lines from copper wire to fiber at a remote FAA location.[5] Duffy said overloaded routers then disrupted FAA communication systems and radar feeds.[1] He named the contractor as L3Harris and said officials were examining whether an installation error or a faulty router was responsible.[5]
Bedford said the agency saw “zero evidence of anything nefarious” and no link to artificial intelligence.[3]
Massachusetts officials respond
Gov. Maura Healey said Friday that she had been briefed and was in touch with Massport.[4] “We’re working to get answers from federal officials,” Healey wrote on social media.[4]
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said lawmakers would press the Trump administration for an explanation.[6] “We need to know what happened. What are they doing to prevent this from happening again?” Moulton told NBC10 Boston.[6]
Duffy asked Congress on Friday for $50 billion to overhaul air traffic control.[6] Congress approved $12.5 billion for the system last year.[6] Moulton was himself taken off a plane at the start of the ground stop while traveling to a family wedding.[6]
More city and state coverage is on the Boston news page.
Sources
- NBC Boston: Flying out of Logan? Delays continue even after FAA lifts ground stop
- GBH News: Logan travelers scramble to make alternate plans after Friday’s ground stop
- CBS Boston: National ground stop leaves travelers stranded at Boston Logan: “I can’t leave this airport”
- NBC Boston: How the rare national ground stop has affected flights at Boston’s Logan airport
- WCVB: Boston Logan flights restart after FAA orders nationwide ground stop
- NBC Boston: ‘We’ve got a lot of questions,’ Seth Moulton says after nationwide ground stop
Read next in Boston Local News
Boston Local NewsLogan Airport Reopens Runway 27 After Fall Closure for Overrun Safety System
Boston Local NewsSaturday Flight Cancellations Top 6,400 After FAA Ground Stop as Duffy Blames Contractor L3Harris
Boston Local NewsSomerville Council Passes 10-1 Ordinance Naming Israel in City Purchasing Ban
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