Airlines resume normal service after a morning of delays and cancelations caused by computer outage

Beck Andrew Salgado, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·3 min read
Laurel Walters and her husband John Walters, of Muskego, check the flight board before boarding their flight to Orlando at Milwaukee Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Domestic air travel was grounded across the United States - including Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport - after a computer outage at the Federal Aviation Administration.

A computer glitch at the Federal Aviation Administration delayed airline traffic across much of the nation early Wednesday, and the agency said it was investigating what caused the issue as flights resumed.

The FAA instituted a nationwide pause on departures, known as a ground stop, for part of the morning Wednesday but that order had been lifted by 8 am. C.T.

In Milwaukee at Mitchell International, the airport tweeted this at 5:44 Wednesday morning: "Check your flight status if you're traveling today. A system outage at the FAA is preventing aircraft from departing at airports nationwide. Please keep in touch with your airline if you're scheduled to fly this morning. We will provide updates here when the system is restored."

The FAA then ordered all airlines to "pause all domestic departures" until 8 a.m. Wednesday. A few dozen flights into and out of Mitchell were delayed or canceled.

Flights began to take off again at Mitchell by 8:40 a.m., but the problems caused by the early delays and cancelations rippled into the afternoon.

One traveler, Cassie Karius, was supposed to fly to New York at 9:20 a.m. but on the way to the airport received a notification from JetBlue informing her that her flight had been delayed by over two hours.

"I feel like I got pretty lucky because I was going to have a layover anyway but now I won't have to wait as long during that layover but I feel bad for people who might miss a layover or who are in a hurry," said Karius.

According to FlightAware, a plane tracking website, 37 flights going into and out of Mitchell Airport had been delayed Wednesday morning.

Just after 12:30 p.m. ET, more than 7,300 flights within, into, or out of the U.S. were delayed according to FlightAware, and more than 1,000 flights in the country were canceled.

United Airlines issued a waiver for travelers at certain airports, allowing passengers whose flights were affected to alter their plans without paying a change fee or fare difference.

Southwest Airlines also announced a more flexible change policy for affected passengers.

Airlines for America, the trade group that represents major U.S. airlines, urged travelers to check with their carrier throughout the day.

"For real time updates related to any potential delays or cancellations caused by the FAA’s system disruptions, travelers should download their airline's app, visit the carrier’s website and ensure their contact information is accurate on travel records," the group said.

The FAA said it was working to fully restore the affected Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) system, which provides pilots with safety information for the nation's airports.

NOTAMs used to be available through a hotline but that was phased out with the internet. The alerts span from mundane information about construction at airports to urgent flight restrictions or broken equipment.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted: "The President has been briefed by the Secretary of Transportation this morning on the FAA system outage. There is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point, but the President directed DOT to conduct a full investigation into the causes."

It's the first time departures have been halted nationwide since 9/11.

"This is rare... The fact that they had to initiate a ground stop across the United States, that hasn't happened since September 11th, 2001. So you get an idea of the magnitude of this," Mike McCormick, assistant professor in applied aviation sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told reporters.

Elsewhere in Wisconsin, Austin Straubel International airport in Green Bay saw three cancellations and three delays Wednesday morning.

"Because of the national scope of the situation, we do not expect things will be quickly resolved. While this is a major disruption for travelers, the safety of travelers and our nation’s air system is a top priority," the Airport said in a press release this morning.

Zach Wichter of USA Today contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Flight delays, cancellations seen at Mitchell Airport after FAA outage