Suspension of Flights in US Affected Over 1.5 Million Passengers — Analysts
Travelers wait to go through security check point at the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024. Over 70 flight cancellations at Chicago airports Sunday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) — A nationwide ban on departures from US airports, imposed due to a major communications failure, has affected more than 1.5 million air passengers and approximately 11,000 scheduled flights, the aviation analytics firm Cirium told RIA Novosti in a statement. «After 4pm Eastern time today [21:00 GMT Friday], there were still some 11,000 flights and over 1.5 million passengers were still scheduled to depart from US airports,» the statement said. On Friday, the US aviation regulator halted departures from all American airports for several hours. This has happened only three times in history, the first instance being after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
