Global Courant
A Southwest Boeing 737 plane takes off in a smoke haze from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia June 8, 2023, as smoke from wildfires in Canada blankets the area.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Nearly 8,000 flights were delayed and nearly 900 canceled on Sunday as thunderstorms wiped out air traffic to and from some of the country’s busiest airports and the Federal Aviation Administration briefly halted departures to major airports serving Washington DC, citing repairs to a power panel needed to power an air traffic control facility.
Shortly after 6 p.m. ET, the FAA issued ground stops for Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport, preventing aircraft to those destinations from taking off. It lifted the orders within an hour.
“Departures to DC area airports have resumed and repairs to the communications panel have been completed,” the FAA said in a statement. “During the repair, a backup system ensured secure communications.” Delays at Washington Dulles averaged about 90 minutes from 7:15 p.m
Another 7,000 US flights were delayed on Saturday. All through Sunday, weather caused delays at airports from Miami to Boston and Detroit.
More than 440 flights to and from Newark Liberty International Airport were delayed. The airport is an important hub of United Airlineswhich had more than 840 delayed flights on Sunday, according to FlightAware. US airlines posted 938 delayed flights, 27% of the main schedule, Delta Airlines had 716, or 20% of his schedule, and was based in New York JetBlue Airways had 472 delays, or 45% of the planned schedule.
