• Analysis
US-bound flights from Australia grounded as FAA telecommunications outage lifts
US-bound flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were grounded or delayed on Saturday after the US Federal Aviation Administration halted departures nationwide over a temporary telecommunications outage.
Sydney departures held on the tarmac
Some US-bound flights from Sydney Airport were grounded or delayed on Saturday after American authorities halted departures and delayed landings at every US airport. The airport later confirmed the US ban on flight arrivals was lifted shortly before 1pm, though the effect on delays was unknown.
A spokesperson for Sydney Airport said:
We are aware of the nationwide ground stop issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration
The spokesperson said the airport was monitoring the situation closely and advised passengers to check with their airline.
Melbourne and Brisbane flights pushed back
Melbourne airport flights to the US also ran behind schedule. A departure to Los Angeles expected shortly after 10am was delayed by more than two hours.
Passengers on two afternoon services were told to expect delays:
- •a Qantas flight to Dallas
- •a United Airlines flight to San Francisco
At Brisbane Airport, US-bound flights were also delayed, with passengers on one such service beginning to board at around 1pm.
Why the FAA paused flights
The FAA announced the nationwide pause in response to what it called a temporary telecommunications outage. The grounding order has since been lifted, and the FAA continued to investigate the cause of the outage.
