Flights are disrupted across the US Northeast due to technical problems at a key air traffic center

Hundreds of flights were canceled in the U.S. Northeast due to technical problems at a key regional air traffic control center, halting operations at every major airport in the New York City area for several hours Monday just as numerous foreign leaders were flying in for the United Nations General Assembly.

However, President Donald Trump's flight from Washington to New York was able to depart as scheduled.

The technical problems happened at the same FAA facility in Philadelphia that caused numerous disruptions at Newark Liberty International Airport in the spring of 2025.

On Monday morning, the primary circuit that carries data into that air traffic control facility failed, affecting flights for Philadelphia as well as Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The FAA then discovered that the backup fiber optic line had been cut due to construction. Verizon said contractors had dug up and cut the cable that runs along the Amtrak rail line in New Jersey. The company said in a statement that its technicians were racing to get the cable fixed.

By early afternoon, some flights were starting to resume at LaGuardia and in Philadelphia, but significant delays are expected through the rest of the day. Some airlines were allowing their customers to change flights without charging them fees. The FAA advised travelers to check the status of their flights with their airline before heading to the airport.

FAA administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters that the agency is working to restore the key connection as soon as possible by installing a new circuit on the primary line, while also working to repair the backup fiber optic line. He said it’s not clear how long that will take.

“That fiber break is probably 13 hours to repair. It’s massive,” Bedford said, according to a video posted online by a CBS transportation reporter.

The primary circuit that failed is due to be replaced as part of the overhaul of the nation’s air traffic control system.

Also Monday, the FAA began testing a new computer system that uses AI to help predict schedule conflicts and weather issues to help air traffic controllers reroute traffic. But that system is initially being tested only in the Washington, D.C., area, so it does not appear to be linked to the outages.