Some flights resume after ground stops at major U.S. airports, including New York's JFK and ‌LaGuardia

Some flights resume after ground stops at major U.S. airports, including New York's JFK and ‌LaGuardia

FAA says a cable was accidentally cut at a New Jersey construction site

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said flights were starting to resume at some busy East Coast airports after an accidentally cut cable forced ground stops in New York, Philadelphia and Boston on Monday.

Airports in New Jersey and Philadelphia were also affected after a fibre cable was accidentally cut at a construction site in New Jersey.

While flights were resuming in New York and Boston, the FAA said ground stops continued at Newark and Philadelphia.

The disruption occurred as ​130 world leaders and dozens of ministers are arriving in New York for the annual high-level meeting of ​the United Nations General Assembly.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told ⁠reporters a backup fibre ⁠line had been accidentally ‌cut by a construction crew in New Jersey, prompting significant flight cuts.

He said a new circuit would be operational imminently.

Officials at Montreal's Trudeau International Airport said they were monitoring the situation at the U.S. airports, and encouraged passengers flying to or from the U.S. to contact their airlines directly for updated information.

CBC News has also reached out to Pearson International in Toronto for any information about potential delays.

FlightAware, a flight-tracking ​site, said more than 600 flights at ⁠Newark and ⁠Philadelphia airports, or more ‌than 20 per cent, had been delayed. Both airports are served by Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control. Newark is a major United Airlines hub, while Philadelphia is ⁠an American Airlines hub.

The issue has also forced a number of flights to divert to other airports. ‌Flightradar24, a flight-tracking site, said flights at Newark were being delayed by an average of 112 minutes.

In May 2025, the facility that ​guides air traffic in and out of Newark airport ⁠suffered a series of significant communications outages.

The FAA said ⁠last year a telecommunications outage impacted communications and ⁠radar ⁠displays at ​Philadelphia TRACON.

Last year, Congress approved $12.5 billion US to address the aging ​air traffic ⁠control system and boost controller hiring following decades of complaints over airport congestion and flight delays, as well as a series of technology issues in recent years.