Major airports faced widespread delays and cancellations after an air traffic control communications failure.

WASHINGTON — September 22, 2026 — Thousands of flights across the U.S. Northeast were disrupted Monday after a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) communications failure affected air traffic control operations in the region.

The disruption began after a primary communications circuit failed at the FAA's Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control facility. When controllers switched to a backup system, a fiber-optic line in New Jersey was found to have been accidentally severed during construction work.

The outage forced temporary restrictions at Newark Liberty International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport and Teterboro Airport, with disruptions later affecting New York's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports and other Northeast traffic.

Reuters reported that FlightAware recorded about 7,000 delayed or canceled flights, including around 1,400 at the three major New York-area airports. More than 100 flights were also diverted to other airports during the disruption.

Transportation officials said the damaged communications lines were repaired Monday evening and normal operations began returning. However, authorities warned that flight delays could continue as airlines work through the backlog.

The incident has renewed attention on the modernization of the U.S. air traffic control system, including the reliability of communications infrastructure supporting some of the country's busiest airports.