US transport chief expects air travel to normalize by Monday after outage

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy projected on Sunday that nationwide air traffic operations will return to normal by Monday following a communication outage that triggered a Friday ground stop.

"So by the end of today, into tomorrow, I think we'll be back to normal," Duffy told NBC News, explaining that airlines require time to reposition displaced aircraft and flight crews.

He emphasized that the national airspace remains secure after air traffic controllers safely landed more than 3,500 planes during the halt, though he stressed that authorities must invest in a network "that has been neglected for decades."

AGING ROUTERS AND CYBERSECURITY REVIEW

Duffy traced the disruption to a remote radio facility in El Dorado, Arkansas, where transitioning from an old telecommunications line to fiber-optic connections caused a router to flood the system with data.

He said that parts of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the agency regulating US civil aviation, still rely on routers purchased in 2001 that became obsolete two decades ago.

Investigators are examining whether the surge stemmed from hardware failure or faulty installation by contractor L3Harris, said Duffy.

He said officials found no indication of a cyberattack following consultations convened by US President Donald Trump with intelligence agencies, noting that the Transportation Department will continue to work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on this matter.

PUSH FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS OVERHAUL

Duffy explained that Washington cannot immediately sever ties with L3Harris because the contractor owns the legacy communications network, and he pressed Congress for billions of dollars to build a new architecture with private carriers AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen.

While the agency previously secured $12.5 billion for aviation modernization, Duffy noted that lawmakers earmarked those funds strictly for radar, radios, and physical controller centers rather than telecommunications and software upgrades.

Duffy warned earlier that the failed legacy equipment will continue breaking down without a "complete overhaul of the system," which he estimated will cost roughly $50 billion.

Trump also urged Congress on Sunday to rapidly approve funding for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system.