Lawmakers Demand Answers for Flight Halt in Letter to Buttigieg
- Thousands of flights delayed, canceled after computer failure
- Failure occurred as Congress prepares to write major FAA bill
Cancelled and delayed flights on a departure board at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 11.
Photographer: Nathan Howard/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A bipartisan group of more than 100 House lawmakers is demanding that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg provide answers to Wednesday’s air-traffic shutdown, which they called “completely unacceptable.”
A letter to Buttigieg on Friday sought more information on what caused a US Federal Aviation Administration notification system to go offline, which prompted a rare halt to all domestic departures and triggered thousands of delays and cancellations. It also promised “vigorous oversight” of the agency’s attempts to upgrade the 30-year-old computer system.