PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A ground stop at Philadelphia International Airport was lifted Monday evening, but travelers are still facing significant delays following an equipment outage.
The Federal Aviation Administration had issued its second ground stop of the day at PHL as crews worked to address the problem that has halted hundreds of flights in the Northeast.
A ground stop at Newark Liberty International Airport also expired Monday evening.
According to an advisory on the FAA’s website, travelers at PHL could expect an average delay of 212 minutes as of about 5 p.m.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said a circuit blew at the Philadelphia TRACON air traffic control facility.
Regional control centers like these have two lines that carry data in and out: the primary and the backup. The FAA said a circuit on the primary failed Monday morning, and when the system tried to switch to the backup, workers discovered that the fiber optic line had been cut at a New Jersey construction site.
The outage affected flights for Philadelphia as well as Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports.
By early afternoon, some flights were starting to resume at LaGuardia, Kennedy and in Philadelphia. However, significant delays were expected through the rest of the day.
Some airlines were allowing their customers to change flights without charging them fees. The FAA advised travelers to check the status of their flights with their airline before heading to the airport.
FAA administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters that the agency is working to restore the primary connection as soon as possible by installing a new circuit on the primary line, while also working to repair the backup fiber optic line. He said it’s not clear how long that will take.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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