U.S. aviation authorities halted flights nationwide early Wednesday after the failure of a key pilot notification system operated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The regulator ordered all airlines to delay departures until 9:30 a.m. Eastern time “to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information,” according to an FAA tweet. The disruption stemmed from problems with the Notice to Air Missions system, or Notam, which conveys urgent advisory information essential for flight operations.
Scores of passengers due to fly domestically began reporting delays on social media earlier Wednesday, and United Airlines Holdings Inc. said it would temporarily ground flights to all destinations. Flight tracking website FlightAware showed 1,230 delays for U.S. flights at 7:22 a.m. Eastern, a figure likely to grow.
