• Regular air traffic operations returning to US after several hours of delays.
• FAA had previously stated that flights would resume at 9:00 ET (1400 GMT).
• System that warns pilots of potential dangers along flight paths was root cause.

After several hours of delays, regular air traffic operations are slowly returning to the US, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

It comes after an issue with the system that warns pilots of potential dangers along flight paths.

The FAA had previously stated that flights will resume at 9:00 ET (1400 GMT). It stated that it was still investigating the issue’s root cause.

Existing flights were permitted to go on to their destinations.

Due to air traffic congestion in both areas, flights from Newark Airport in New Jersey and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport restarted slightly earlier than other flights.

The implementation of a ground delay program by the authorities is anticipated to help clear the backlog of flights that have been grounded for several hours.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed, and the White House said there was no evidence of a cyberattack “at this point”.

Speaking to reporters, the president said the FAA “expect [that] in a couple of hours they’ll have a good sense of what caused it, and we’ll respond at that time”.

In a tweet, the White House Press Secretary said the president had called for a “full investigation”.

The FAA said that the Notice to Air Missions System was the problem’s root cause.

Major US airlines declared that they were carefully observing the circumstances. The largest airline in North America, American Airlines, announced that it was collaborating with the FAA to minimize customer disturbance.

Customers who reschedule flights departing on or before January 16, 2023, according to United Airlines, are exempt from change fees and any pricing difference.

Delta said it was “safely focused on managing our operation during this morning’s FAA ground stop for all carriers”, adding it would provide updates as soon as possible.

For international passengers, Air Canada – the foreign carrier with the most flights into the US – said the outage would impact on cross-border operations on Wednesday, but it couldn’t initially say to what degree. The carrier said it would put in place a “goodwill policy” so affected passengers can change their travel plans.

Virgin Atlantic stated that it would continue to run its scheduled US departures from the UK. Delays, however, might hamper some US trips.

According to British Airways, all of its flights to and from the US are still being run according to schedule.

US Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he had been in contact with the FAA on Wednesday morning, and that they were working to resolve the issue “swiftly and safely”.

Passengers have posted on social media that they are experiencing delays.

“Always great to get up at 0400 to be at the gate in plenty of time for your flight that is now delayed by 37 minutes and counting,” said Daniel Huard in a Facebook post. “This will be a long day of travel.”

Michael Remy arrived to an airport in Virginia at 0600 ET (1100 GMT) planning to head to North Carolina for vacation. His flight was delayed right before boarding. “It is what is, so, you can only get so upset,” he told the Media. “I may have seen it differently if I was headed to a wedding or a funeral, though.”

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