Pete Buttigieg led a list of furious Democrats who demanded answers from the Trump administration after the mysterious ground stall that left thousands of flights delayed or canceled Friday.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the hours-long ground stop of all flights across the country was a ‘national emergency’ as he cautioned that there was ‘nothing completely certain right now.’
So far, at least 8,200 flights into or out of the US were delayed on Friday, while nearly 7,500 others have been canceled, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.
Thousands of cancelations and delays have been reported for Saturday, as well.
Former US Transportation Secretary Buttigieg joked about his replacement Sean Duffy’s performance at a convention for Democrats in Denver.
‘You can just write down the comic book asterisk swearing characters. I have questions,’ Buttigieg told The New York Times when asked for his reaction.
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana continued to crack jokes as the night went on.
‘I will be available in the hotel bar following the conference for anybody who needs to rebook their flights or get a refund, per your rights,’ Buttigieg said.
Pete Buttigieg led a list of furious Democrats who demanded answers from the Trump administration after the mysterious ground stall that left thousands of flights delayed or canceled Friday
US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy briefs the news media about the nationwide ground stop issued by the FAA
Buttigieg was also confused at why backups available to the department had not worked.
‘It is not clear to me why that redundancy did not prevent an outage of this magnitude,’ he told The Advocate.
He did take time out to praise nonpartisan employees and defended his own administration’s work.
‘This should not be about politics. I am very much rooting for them to get this resolved as quickly as possible.’
He’s speaking at the ‘What’s Next’ conference, where Democrats are gathering to celebrate their successes in last week’s midterms and discuss how to use their new congressional majorities.
This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when Buttigieg was secretary.
He led an angry cavalcade of Democrats desperate for answers from the administration.
‘The safety of our skies is built on redundancies,’ said Wisconsin Senator Tammy Duckworth in a statement.
Passengers wait at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia
So far, at least 8,200 flights into or out of the US have been delayed today, while nearly 7,500 others have been canceled
‘Whatever led to the nationwide ground stop will warrant a thorough and complete investigation.’
Robert Garcia, the California Democrat who has told every member of the administration and Donald Trump’s own family to ‘lawyer up’ as he ascends to chair of the House Oversight Committee, was baffled.
‘This is quite disturbing and pretty extraordinary of an action taken. Whatever it is, I think deserves as much transparency as possible,’ he told MS Now.
‘I urge the FAA and the Trump administration to make sure this never happens again,’ liberal Congressman Ted Lieu told The LA Times.
‘What just happened is enormously damaging to trust in our air system and our air system is a vital component of our national economy.’
Prior to his primetime press briefing from the White House, Ro Khanna slammed Sean Duffy and other officials for not being more transparent.
‘I don’t understand why they’re not just in front of the cameras holding a press conference, trying to explain to the American people what’s going on,’ he told CNN.
Duffy said ‘old hardware that went down’ caused the ground stop of all flights across the country after it was lifted shortly before 8.30pm ET following a major communications outage.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called the issue ‘a national emergency’
Trump administration officials said the system needed funding for a complete overhaul, estimating a $50 billion price tag.
‘I think the question for the American people is, do you want your Congress to fund this?’ Duffy added. ‘President Trump has asked for the money.’
Duffy said the ‘instability’ in the radar communications at air traffic control centers started at 3.36pm. More than 3,500 airplanes were in the air when the ground stop was issued.
So far, at least 8,200 flights into or out of the US have been delayed today, while nearly 7,500 others have been canceled, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.
More than 1,700 cancelations have already been reported for Saturday, as well.
The Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) said at 3.54pm ET that the reason for the immediate halting of US flights was: ‘Due to extraordinary circumstances for safety reasons.’
The FAA said: ‘There has been a temporary telecommunications outage – out of an abundance of caution, all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for, and international flights will be handled on a case-by-case basis.’
The halt triggered immediate chaos and confusion for travelers, with departure boards at many airports showing flights were operating normally, even as customers were unable to board planes.
President Donald Trump is getting constant updates on the situation, the Daily Mail understands.
