U.S. Aviation Chaos Enters Third Day With '17,000 Flights Canceled'... Trump Speaks Out: 'Biden's Fault' vs. Democrats: 'Put Safety First'

[Financial News] The fallout from a nationwide halt to aircraft takeoffs in the United States (a ground stop) has led to a third straight day of mass cancellations, with the cumulative number of canceled flights nearing 17,000. U.S. politicians, who must resolve the worst aviation crisis since the September 11 attacks, have become embroiled in a fierce blame game over responsibility for replacing the aging air traffic control network and the enormous additional funding required.

According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and other foreign media, more than 1,300 additional flights had been canceled across the United States by the morning of the 15th (local time). More than 9,000 flights were canceled on the first day of the crisis, the 13th, followed by 6,600 on the 14th, bringing the three-day total to over 16,900.
Airlines worked throughout the weekend to restore their schedules but have faced major difficulties returning to normal. The nationwide suspension of flights left aircraft and crew members out of position, while cascading delays caused pilots and crew to reach their duty-time limits, preventing them from being assigned to their next flights right away.
American Airlines responded by setting price caps to prevent replacement tickets from becoming prohibitively expensive and scheduling additional flights, while Delta Air Lines advised passengers who could adjust their schedules to delay their departures. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said that “the worst is behind us,” but that substantial recovery work would still be needed before operations could fully return to normal.


As the aviation crisis spiraled out of control, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on the 15th, two days after it began, to argue that the previous administration was responsible.
He criticized the Biden administration, saying, “The Biden administration was a disaster for the FAA. It spent enormous sums foolishly and left the old, broken system in worse shape than it was before it touched it.” He went on to say, “Much of the current air traffic control system is 50 years old. We shouldn’t do this piecemeal; we need to build the entire system all at once,” and urged Congress to provide funding quickly.
Earlier, after an air traffic control communications failure on the afternoon of the 13th, the FAA banned takeoffs at airports across the United States for about four hours and 30 minutes. This was the longest-lasting suspension of takeoffs since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explained that a newly installed router at a facility in Arkansas triggered abnormal communications requests and caused an overload during the replacement of aging copper lines with fiber-optic cables. He also formally asked Congress for $50 billion (about 67 trillion won) in additional funding to replace the entire air traffic control network.

The opposition Democratic Party immediately pushed back, vowing an extensive effort to establish the administration’s accountability and congressional oversight. Critics say that during its second term in power, the administration has failed to properly upgrade the air traffic control network and is merely blaming its predecessor.
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said, “The Trump administration, which has controlled Congress for the past two years, apparently always had money for projects to feed its vanity.” She added, “We should prioritize aviation safety over building a pathetic triumphal arch.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen also took aim at Secretary Duffy, saying, “At the administration’s request, Congress included $12.5 billion in related funding, but they spent only one-third of it.” He sharply criticized them, saying, “It’s absurd to point fingers at Congress and the previous administration while hiding their own failure to spend the budget.”
Democratic members of the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure also condemned the administration, saying, “The Trump administration has paralyzed the nation’s airspace.” They issued a strong warning: “Preserve all documents and emails. Rigorous congressional oversight and an investigation are coming soon.”


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