At night, the United States lifted the temporary suspension of takeoffs that affected flights throughout the country this Friday, November 13, after a failure in the airline’s communications system. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)which caused the cancellation of almost 6,000 flights and left tens of thousands of passengers on the ground.
The restriction, according to the AFP agency, was maintained for approximately four hours.
Additionally, Flightradar24 tracking showed that at the lowest point of the air disruptiononly 336 flights worldwide were destined for US airports, compared to the usual more than 3,600 for that time.
The national interruption of flights in the United States caused a significant drop in air traffic to that country.
Therefore, the data from the monitoring platform Flightradar24updated at 10:30 pm this Friday, November 13, Panama time, reflected the magnitude of the impact.
Restriction begins
The restriction was lifted after approximately four hours, following a failure in the US aviation authority’s communications system.
Although the administration authorized the operations again, the authorities of different states warned that the normalization of the itineraries would take time due to the alterations caused by the incident.
As reported by the AFP news agencysome passengers were forced to get off the planes moments before takeoffwhile airlines tried to respond to a situation that also took their workers by surprise.
US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffyruled out that there was evidence of a malicious attack or criminal action behind the failure.
Duffy attributed the problem to the age of the equipment used in the air traffic control system and said the suspension was lifted at 8:15 p.m.
“This is an old system problem,” said Duffy, who explained that the infrastructure still uses outdated, analog switches and routers.
Duffy said that the system, which cannot respond to the demands of the 21st century, suffered an overload that caused the interruption of communications in different parts of the country.
Duffy recalled that this Thursday, November 12, he had requested $30.1 billion from Congress to update and modernize the US air traffic control system.
After the suspension was lifted, he reiterated the need to approve the resources requested by the administration of President Donald Trump.
“I will say it a million times: Congress has to grant the president the resources,” he said.
The stoppage represents the third time since the attacks of September 11, 2001 that an alert of this nature has been issued for US airspace.
Copa Airlines announces changes without charges for affected passengers
Amid the alterations to itineraries, Copa Airlines reported that it maintains current facilities for passengers with flights to or from the United States, due to the temporary suspension ordered by the FAA.
The Panamanian airline indicated that the measures apply under the following conditions:
– Tickets: issued until November 13, 2026.
– Travel dates: flights scheduled for November 13 and 14, 2026.
– Routes: to or from the United States, except Puerto Rico, in all destinations operated by Copa Airlines.
– Changes: no charge for change or rate difference.
– Deadline to request changes: until November 17, 2026.
– Deadline to reschedule trips: until November 22, 2026.
Passengers can manage changes in the My Trips section of the Copa Airlines website or through its mobile application.
Copa Airlines recommended travelers with flights to or from the United States check the status of their itineraries before heading to the airport.
The company indicated that it will continue to inform passengers directly. about any modifications via email and notifications in your app.
