US: Duffy says 'incompetence' or bad tech to blame for flight haltings
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said investigations are ongoing into the largest mass grounding of flights in over 25 years, which stranded passengers nationwide.
The unprecedented grounding affected 16,000 flights on Friday and Saturday, stranding passengers who scrambled for alternative transportation or remained in airports. This marked the first nationwide grounding since January 2023 and the largest since the September 11, 2001 attacks, with international carriers also forced to cancel US-bound flights.
The massive backlog disrupted dozens of college and professional sporting events, a staple of American weekends. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford expressed hope that flight schedules would return to normal by Sunday, stating "the worst is behind us."
Blame shifting
Transportation Secretary Duffy sought to deflect responsibility during a press conference plagued with technical problems. He ruled out malfeasance but suggested multiple culprits, including the previous administration, Congress, and ultimately "contractor incompetence." Duffy pointed to a faulty router installed by L3Harris workers who replaced copper wire with fiberoptic cable.
We're working to determine whether we had incompetence, meaning, was it user error or installer error from L3Harris, or did they install a faulty router? We haven't determined what the fault was.
Duffy acknowledged the questionable timing of the Friday afternoon update when air traffic is heaviest, promising to reevaluate scheduling procedures. The FAA has approved $12.5 billion for the infrastructure upgrade, though Duffy now requests $50 billion, calling it "an emergency."
Financial fallout
Despite customer frustration, airlines face no legal obligation for compensation since the grounding was ordered by the FAA. Administrator Bedford stated the agency is "working with aviation stakeholders" to ensure passengers are either rebooked or receive full refunds.
Investors responded to the crisis with airline stocks falling 1-2% for American, Delta and United, while JetBlue and L3Harris dropped 3%. The financial impact compounds existing challenges from high fuel prices attributed to the Trump administration's conflict with Iran.
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