After nearly five hours of halted air traffic across the United States and Puerto Rico, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) again authorized takeoffs and landings of commercial and cargo flights once a failure in its communications system was fixed. The White House said the incident was not related to a cyberattack and that a data overload is believed to have caused the suspension.
Authorities warned that returning to normal operations could take several hours because of the accumulated disruptions. Aerostar Puerto Rico reported that, after the ground stop order was lifted, operations to and from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) began to resume gradually. The company cautioned that a return to normal could take time because of the cumulative impact on airline schedules, equipment and crews.
Aerostar urged passengers to contact their airlines directly to confirm flight status, possible schedule changes, cancellations or rebooking options before heading to the airport. Aerostar will continue working with the airlines and relevant authorities on the process of normalizing operations.