https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/faa-system-outage-us-flight-disruptions/index.html
Yep, we're camped out in the New Orleans airport. No way to make our connection in Atlanta so we're rebooked on a new flight though Detroit ...and THAT one was just delayed. Already missed 1.5 days of this R&R trip with a cancellation on the FRONT end. 🤬
Just reading this AM that it is US wide!
It (the system outage) also appears to be winding down - that is, the NOTAM system outage itself appears to be over (they're still not sure what caused it, but it's working again and in the process of being restored). But the damage has been done, and there's a cascading wave of delays that will continue to impact schedules for some time. If I had planned to fly someplace today, I would start looking for Plan B.
What broke? The NOTAM system, which is basically an information management system telling pilots about recent (and otherwise undocumented elsewhere) issues that might cause safety issues, eg an airport runway is temporarily close for repairs, or there's something on/near the airport that's broken or in a different place than usual, or something temporary might get in your way, a volcano erupted and may pose a risk to flight safety, and a thousand other things.
The worst impacts so far have been on east coast airports, but the cascade of delays is expanding and moving west right now. Hopefully this settles down in the next few hours (the FAA says they are in the process of bringing the system back online) but things are definitely going to be disrupted to varying degrees nationwide today. Pack your patience today.
Just heard one jet going over our neighborhood (BNA a 15-20 minute drive away). But it is still very, very, quiet in the way of air traffic (sort of post-9/11 ish) compared to a typical morning.
For everyone traveling today, I wish you a quick recovering on your itinerary, realizing it is frustrating, especially if you got up super early to make the flight out and had "perfect" connections lined up.
Try to stay positive...it could have been a lot worse.
Will be interesting to hear the "cause" of the outage.
After all the chaos at airports the past few weeks we decided to just bite the bullet and pay for a nonstop to Rome. Unfortunately the premium economy seats weren’t available for those dates,so we are going economy with some seat upgrades because the thought of trying to make connections seemed like asking for trouble both in getting us and our luggage if we decide to check a bag. They seem to be making connection times tighter and tighter so it amazes me anyone makes it.
I'm looking at Flight Aware's maps of planes in the air as of noon, Wednesday.
It's quieter than normal, but the Atlanta area has a bunch of traffic coming in. It's just a matter of time until things more normalize. It's just unfortunate that the computer shutdown happened.
I'm seeing military flightsflying out of Columbus AFB, Mississippi with T-38 trainer jets like "Pistol 1 and Pistol 2" chasing each other at over 500 mph at 16,000 ft.. I also see "Killer 7" which is a slower turboprop trainer in NW Alabama.
Most of the private aviation is on the ground right now, however. This afternoon's area departures are listed mid afternoon and later..
I flew yesterday, thank goodness, but my brother is due to fly in today. He got notice early this morning and changed his flight to an earlier one, hoping that he still makes it in by tonight. Fingers crossed!