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New York (CNN) — The Federal Aviation Administration lifted its bid to halt each home formation departures crossed the United States Wednesday aft it restored the strategy providing pilots with pre-flight information notices. The overnight outage caused extended disruption, and thousands of flights stay delayed crossed the country.
The bureau enactment a crushed halt bid successful spot aft its NOTAM -- oregon Notice to Air Missions -- strategy failed. The FAA lifted the bid soon earlier 9 a.m. ET, and the bureau said mean aerial postulation operations were resuming crossed the country. It said it was inactive trying to find the origin of the problem.
But airlines continued to hold oregon cancel flights due to the fact that of ongoing congestion. An hose root acquainted with the concern said airlines whitethorn instrumentality crushed hold programs, which could perchance pb to further timetable issues.
The FAA's website was inactive showing crushed stops astatine Atlanta, Boston and New York's LaGuardia Airport arsenic of 9:40 a.m. ET. The tract besides showed a crushed hold astatine Charlotte Douglas International Airport successful North Carolina, 1 of American Airlines' largest hubs.
Airlines for America, an relation representing US airlines, earlier said the outage was "causing important operational delays." Major US carriers including United Airlines, Delta and American Airlines each said they had grounded flights successful effect to the situation. United Airlines has issued a North America travel waiver in effect to the outage.
Cause of outage inactive unclear
US President Joe Biden said determination was nary contiguous accusation connected what had caused the outage -- the 2nd US aviation situation successful a substance of weeks. He said helium had been briefed connected the concern and was successful interaction with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
"I conscionable spoke with Buttigieg," helium told reporters arsenic helium departed the White House. "They don't cognize what the origin is. But I was connected the telephone with him the past 10 minutes. I told them to study straight to maine erstwhile they find out. Aircraft tin inactive onshore safely, conscionable not instrumentality disconnected close now."
He continued, "They don't cognize what the origin of it is. They expect successful a mates of hours they'll person a bully consciousness of what caused it and volition respond astatine that time."
Asked whether it was a cyberattack, Biden said: "They don't know. They volition find out."
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said successful a connection that determination was "no grounds of a cyberattack astatine this point," but that Biden had ordered a Department of Transportation investigation.
Buttigieg said via Twitter Wednesday greeting that helium had ordered an "after-action process to find basal causes and urge adjacent steps."
Thousands of delays
FlightAware, which tracks delays and cancellations, showed astir 4,600 flights to, from and wrong the United States arsenic being delayed arsenic of 9:25 a.m. ET, and much than 800 flights canceled truthful far.
Southwest, which canceled tens of thousands of flights aft Christmas pursuing a systemwide meltdown, has much cancellations and delays than the different airlines. About 8% of Southwest flights are canceled and 42% of flights are delayed.
International flights bound for the United States were continuing to instrumentality disconnected from Amsterdam and Paris contempt the situation. A Schiphol Airport spokesperson told CNN that "a workaround had been issued" and flights were inactive departing from Amsterdam.
No flights person been canceled from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, but delays were expected, according to the airport's property office. Frankfurt Airport besides told CNN it had not been impacted.
A London Heathrow Airport spokesperson told CNN that they were "not alert of canceled flights and that flights to the US had near recently," nevertheless determination were rider reports of important delays.
Shabnam Amini told CNN that she and different travelers had been sitting connected committee Americans Airlines formation 51 to Dallas for astir 3 hours astatine Heathrow due to the fact that of the FAA outage.
She said they had been informed that determination were delays but were inactive boarded onto the aircraft.
Commercial hose pilots usage NOTAMS for real-time accusation connected formation hazards and restrictions. The FAA stipulates NOTAMS are not to beryllium relied connected arsenic a sole root of information, and truthful immoderate flights whitethorn beryllium capable to fulfill information requirements by utilizing different data.
Wednesday's incidental comes connected the heels of different aviation crisis. A immense wintertime tempest implicit the end-of-year holidays caused extended disruption and helped trigger the Southwest Airlines meltdown that affected thousands of passengers.
-- This is simply a processing story. It volition beryllium updated.
CNN's Barry Neild, Paul P. Murphy, Betsy Kline, Livvy Doherty and Stephanie Halasz contributed to this story.
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