Technical failures ground flights across US Northeast

Hundreds of flights were canceled across the US Northeast on Monday after technical failures struck a major regional air traffic control center, halting operations for several hours at all major airports in the New York City area. The disruption coincided with the arrival of numerous foreign leaders for United Nations General Assembly meetings.

The outage occurred in a key system at a Philadelphia air navigation facility, affecting flights bound for the city as well as John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark airports.

The Federal Aviation Administration discovered that a backup fiber optic line had also been severed due to construction work at a separate location.

The technical issues occurred at the same FAA facility in Philadelphia that caused widespread disruptions at Newark Liberty International Airport in spring 2025.