Flying this weekend after the FAA ground stop: 3,700 flights canceled Saturday, what you are owed

The nationwide ground stop is over, but the schedule is not back to normal. According to CNBC, FlightAware showed more than 3,700 U.S. flights canceled on Saturday and close to 2,000 delayed as of 9:40 a.m. ET. That comes on top of Friday's disruption: CNBC cites about 9,000 cancellations and more than 7,000 delays, while BBC News, also citing FlightAware, put Friday at nearly 8,000 cancellations and more than 8,500 delays. The two outlets differ, and CNBC notes some Friday disruption came from bad weather. Treat both as approximate.

This follows our Friday report on the stop. This story covers what changed since: the cause the government now gives, the recovery, and what a traveler can do.

What officials now say caused it

CNBC reports Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the stop followed updates to an older communication system managed by L3Harris Technologies. He said routers were overloaded with data and began giving air traffic control centers inconsistent information. BBC quotes him describing "analogue telecom" whose "switches, our routers actually got overloaded with data and they went down."

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said there was "zero evidence" of anything "nefarious" or related to artificial intelligence, per CNBC. BBC reports Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a cyberattack. CNBC says the stop began around 4 p.m. Friday and lasted more than four hours. We have not seen a formal FAA incident report, so the cause may be refined.

Why Saturday is hard to fix

Planes and crews are out of position. CNBC says many aircraft diverted during the stop, and airlines are using spare planes and extra crews on what is normally one of the lightest days of the week. It reports one airline is offering flight attendants extra pay for trips, and another is giving crews confirmed seats to reposition. Cirium counted around 3 million people scheduled to fly Saturday, per CNBC.

BBC reports Duffy warned the ripple effect would last "a few days." Overseas, BBC says all U.S.-bound traffic from Eurocontrol member states was suspended during the stop, with some Heathrow flights to the U.S. cancelled or delayed.

What you are owed

• Fee-free changes: CNBC says American and other airlines will change tickets with no fee or fare difference if the outage affected your plans. Check your own airline's waiver page for its exact dates.
• Refunds: BBC summarizes the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024: if a flight is canceled or "significantly delayed" (three hours domestic, six hours international), the airline must offer alternative travel or a full refund if you choose not to fly. Credit-card refunds are due within seven business days of the request, and 20 days for other payment types. Accepting a rebooked flight forfeits the refund. We could not open the Department of Transportation's own refund page, so confirm the rules there.
• Cash compensation: BBC says U.S. airlines generally do not owe it for air traffic control problems, because the cause is outside their control. Nor is there a U.S. requirement for meal vouchers or hotels, though some carriers offer help. UK and EU rules can differ for flights from those regions.

What to do

• Check the app before leaving home. Rebook there rather than waiting in a line.
• If your flight is canceled, decide before accepting a new one. Taking the rebooking ends your refund right; declining it keeps it.
• Fly later in the day if you have a choice. Early flights depend on planes that stranded overnight in the wrong city. This is a reasoned expectation, not a figure from the airlines.
• Keep receipts for meals and lodging in case your airline or credit card travel cover reimburses them.
• Thanksgiving plans: CNBC says airlines want a clean start for the holiday period. See our TSA screening data for where demand stands.

What to watch

Duffy used the episode to argue Congress should fund an air traffic control overhaul, per CNBC. Expect that funding fight to continue. More on this in our travel section.

Sources: CNBC; BBC News. Flight counts are FlightAware figures as reported by those outlets and change through the day. This is travel information, not legal or investment advice.