Departing flights at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were running about 49 minutes late Monday, while FlightAware reported hundreds of cancellations after an FAA technical failure. Dallas is about 33 miles southwest of Princeton. Dallas Love Field also experienced disruptions.
The Philadelphia control center’s main data connection failed, and a fiber-optic backup line had been cut. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said an Amtrak construction crew caused the damage. The facility manages traffic affecting airports including Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark, with interruptions spreading to airports around the country. The center was also connected to significant Newark disruptions in spring 2025.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said a new circuit was being added as repairs continued, while Verizon technicians worked to restore service. Bedford said fixing the fiber could take about 13 hours, although the replacement circuit could restore the primary connection sooner. Some service had resumed at LaGuardia, Kennedy and Philadelphia, but major delays were expected to last through the day.
Airlines were allowing some travelers to rebook without fees, and the FAA recommended checking directly with airlines before heading to an airport. The agency also started a limited Washington, D.C., test of an artificial-intelligence system for identifying scheduling and weather issues. The system was not tied to the outage.
