A breakdown in the Federal Aviation Administration’s communications technology led to thousands of delayed or canceled flights throughout the country Wednesday, and the ripple effect was felt by all three major Bay Area airports.
The glitch affected a system known as NOTAM — standing for Notice to Air Missions — which pilots, air dispatchers and others are required to consult before a takeoff. The system provides alerts about weather, ground conditions and other information that could affect a flight.
The cause of the outage will be investigated by the federal Department of Transportation, President Joe Biden said on Wednesday morning. Air travel was halted for hours before resuming just after 6 a.m. Pacific time.
In the Bay Area, airport spokespersons reported normal or minimal amounts of cancelations in their early-morning operations, but the West Coast avoided much of the travel-related havoc, due to the disruption happening before most of the morning’s takeoffs were scheduled.
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport spokesperson Keonnis Taylor said only one flight was delayed as of 9:43 a.m. Wednesday due to the FAA’s issues.
“Due to the early time, most of our flights had not yet begun operating,” Taylor said via email. “We’ve also been fortunate with the weather. We have maintained normal operations, and have provided support for several diverted aircraft unable to land at nearby airports.”
On Wednesday morning, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported as many as six Southwest Airlines flights into and out of SJC were canceled and 81 were delayed in the wake of the FAA outage. The new delays harken back to late December, when thousands of flights were canceled during the holiday season, leaving travelers stranded as they searched for new flights.
When asked to confirm Wednesday’s report, the airline told Bay Area News Group it’s “not able to provide market specific information as it’s been changing throughout the day.”
Taylor later clarified that “since the day has progressed, additional operations have been impacted … Compared to a typical day, my team indicates that aside from the delays being reported by Southwest Airlines, operations are normal.”
San Francisco International Airport spokesperson Doug Yakel told the Bay Area News Group that the 20 flight cancellations Wednesday morning were a normal amount. He added there were 83 flight delays as of 7:30 a.m., comprising of about 9% of all SFO flights.
Yakel said there was “no way” to break down the reasons why flights were delayed or cancelled.
Oakland International Airport spokeswoman Kaley Skantz declined to specify how the FAA system issues affected travel at the East Bay facility, saying that the reason for any delay or cancellation ultimately was determined by the individual airlines. According to flightaware.com, a web site that tracks airline flights, delays and cancellations, 20 flights had been cancelled by 9:30 a.m., and 78 had been delayed.
“Speaking generally, we are seeing minimal cancellations but some residual delays on the schedule that are more than typical, especially among arriving flights through this afternoon.” Skantz said via email. “I did check in with our operations team and they report no unusually long lines or passenger crowding at this time.”
