Flights from Incheon canceled as FAA halts all US departures amid communications outage

A Korean Air plane seen from the observation deck of Terminal 2 at Incheon International Airport. [Yonhap]

A communications failure at a US air traffic control center brought flight departures to a halt at airports across the United States on Saturday, prompting Korean Air and Asiana Airlines to cancel some of their US-bound flights from Incheon.

According to Yonhap and aviation industry sources, Korean Air canceled its Incheon–Atlanta service Saturday, affecting flights KE033 and KE034.

Flights on the Incheon–Boston route (KE091 and KE092) and the Incheon–New York route (KE081 and KE082) are also likely to be canceled, with additional delays and cancellations possible as the situation develops.

Korean Air said it is monitoring conditions on the ground and will adjust departure schedules for flights from both South Korea and the United States, notifying passengers accordingly.

Asiana Airlines also canceled its Incheon–New York service Saturday, affecting flights OZ221 and OZ222.

Asiana Airlines alerted passengers to possible delays on routes serving Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco following the Federal Aviation Administration's ground stop order.

Aircraft sit on the runway at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on Friday (local time). [Reuters]

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Saturday that it had halted departures at all airports, citing "an unusual situation and safety reasons."

It was the first nationwide ground stop the FAA had imposed since Jan. 11, 2023.

Local media reported the disruption appeared to stem from a communications problem at an air traffic control center and was not believed to be a cyberattack.

The order sowed chaos at major airports across the country. According to the Wall Street Journal and other outlets, social media posts circulating Saturday afternoon showed aircraft that had been taxiing returning to their gates and passengers disembarking.

At some airports, gates and corridors were so congested with passengers that deplaning was taking considerably longer than usual.

Drummer John Sturino told a Wall Street Journal reporter he had been waiting in a refund line at New York's LaGuardia Airport for 30 minutes, saying the delays had prevented him from attending a percussion event in Indianapolis.

Data from flight-tracking site FlightAware, cited by the Wall Street Journal, showed that as of 6:40 p.m. Friday (local time) — 8:40 a.m. Saturday Korean Standard Time — more than 3,300 US flights had been canceled and over 10,200 were delayed.

Airlines have begun canceling weekend flights, with more than 370 Saturday departures already scrapped.

sjpark@heraldcorp.com