US Transportation Secretary Duffy: We knew the systems were old and needed to be fixed

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was aware of outdated equipment after a glitch grounded thousands of flights over the weekend. The malfunction was caused by an overloaded router installed by an external contractor as part of a fiber optic upgrade project. Duffy blamed contractor L3Harris, while the FAA administrator clarified that the upgrade must continue.

After a glitch grounded thousands of flights across the US over the weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) admitted it had been warned for years about outdated equipment. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: "We knew the systems were old and needed to be fixed," noting that systems from the 1990s and radars from the early 2000s are still in use. The nationwide malfunction, according to federal officials, was caused by a remote router installed by an external contractor as part of a project to replace copper cables with fiber optics. The router sent over a thousand connection attempts every four to five seconds, causing instability in the communication system. Duffy pointed a finger at the contractor L3Harris and stated that those responsible would be held accountable. L3Harris said they are assisting the investigation. Criticism also came from the safety experts union PASS, which claimed its technicians were not involved in the upgrade. It was also revealed that the Biden administration established a team of experts in October 2024, but it was disbanded weeks after Trump took office in January 2025. FAA Administrator Brian Bedford clarified that the upgrade project must continue, and Duffy emphasized his intention to advance the upgrade of outdated infrastructure.