Philadelphia airport operations resume after telecom outage, but delays remain

The communications outage that has caused flight delays at a key air traffic control facility in Philadelphia has been restored.

After the damaged lines are fully restored, it allows airports across the Northeast to resume flight operations after hours of disruptions, according to the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued two ground stops at Philadelphia International Airport on Monday, September 21.

The transportation secretary on Monday evening took to X and shared a statement, confirming the telecom lines have been repaired and “all airport operations in the Northeast are resuming.”

“It will take some time to clear all existing delays, so please check with your airline for the latest information,” he wrote on X.

The equipment outage had led to over 1,000 flights being canceled, and more than 6,000 were delayed on Monday, September 21, with Newark and Philadelphia the most affected.

The key telecom line at the FAA facility in Philadelphia went down earlier Monday, while the backup fiber optic cable was accidentally damaged by construction workers.

The outages caused air traffic controllers to be without radar or communications for hours.

According to Flightradar24, the outage brought commercial air traffic to a near-standstill at Newark Liberty International Airport for most of the day.

More than 200 flights into and out of Philadelphia International Airport were also canceled, while disruptions hit LaGuardia and Kennedy airports in New York.

But by Monday evening, flight operations were restored at those airports.