Flight operations have resumed at New York City-area airports on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, following disruptions caused by failures of communication lines at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control facility in Philadelphia. Early Monday, the primary FAA communication circuit failed, and the backup fiber optic line was inadvertently cut by railroad construction workers between Newark and New Brunswick, New Jersey.
The failure of both communication lines left the Philadelphia FAA center without radar or communications for several hours, leading to widespread cancellations and delays across major Northeastern airports. At Newark Liberty International Airport, no commercial flights landed from
approximately 9:40 a.m. to just after 5:20 p.m. local time on September 21. More than 600 flights were canceled at Newark during Monday, while Philadelphia International Airport canceled about 200 flights. The disruption also affected LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airports in New York City.
Flight operations resumed late Monday evening, but residual delays and cancellations persisted on Tuesday. Early Tuesday, Newark reported about 40 flight delays and nearly 60 cancellations. Airlines permitted some passengers to change flights without fees, and the FAA advised travelers to verify flight status prior to arriving at airports.
The outage coincided with the
arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump and numerous world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney missed a Monday event at the Assembly due to the flight disruptions, although he arrived in the city by Monday night.
The Philadelphia FAA facility responsible experienced multiple disruptions earlier in the year affecting Newark airport. The FAA explained that regional air traffic centers rely on two communication paths, a primary and a backup. When the primary line failed on Monday morning, attempts to switch to the backup revealed the fiber optic cable had been
cut. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy initially blamed an Amtrak construction crew for the damage, but Amtrak said a New Jersey Transit construction crew was responsible for severing the fiber optic line.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on social media that “it will take some time to clear all existing delays,” signaling ongoing disruption for the Northeast airspace despite the restored communication lines.
