FAA Halts Flights At Newark And Philadelphia Airports

Two of four Northeast airports hit by an FAA equipment outage remained shut as of 2:01 p.m. ET Monday, with no estimated time for resumption, according to the FAA, cited by ABC News.

How many airports were affected?

Four major Northeast airports saw ground stops Monday morning: Newark Liberty International, Philadelphia International, John F. Kennedy International, and LaGuardia, per the FAA account relayed by ABC News. Two of those four — JFK and LaGuardia — have since reopened. The remaining two, Newark and Philadelphia, stayed closed as of the FAA's early-afternoon update.

What caused the outage?

A circuit blew Monday morning at a Philadelphia air traffic control facility, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said, according to ABC News. When controllers switched to the backup system, officials found that backup line had also been cut, this time at a construction site in New Jersey. That left the facility with no functioning primary or secondary circuit, according to Bedford's account.

How long was the shutdown supposed to last?

Bedford initially said the Northeast airspace would need to close for at least 30 minutes to allow crews to change the circuit in Philadelphia, ABC News reported. That 30-minute window has since passed. Officials said the fix to replace the circuit did not work, and the FAA has not issued a new estimate for when Newark and Philadelphia operations will resume, per the same report.

By the numbers

• 4 airports placed under ground stops: Newark, Philadelphia, JFK, LaGuardia
• 2 airports still closed as of the FAA's latest update: Newark, Philadelphia
• 30 minutes: the minimum closure window Bedford cited for the circuit swap
• 0: the number of confirmed backup circuits functioning at the Philadelphia facility during the outage

What are airlines telling passengers?

United Airlines, which operates a hub at Newark, said the "FAA technology outage is affecting all airlines in the Northeast," according to a statement carried by ABC News. The airline said flights destined for Newark have either been held at their departure airports or diverted to alternate airports. United said it has issued a travel waiver giving customers flexibility to change plans and will work to get passengers to their destinations once the outage clears, per the statement.

What to watch

• Whether the FAA issues a new repair timeline for the Philadelphia circuit after the first fix failed.
• Whether ground stops expand again to JFK or LaGuardia if backup capacity remains compromised.
• How many additional flights airlines divert or cancel at Newark and Philadelphia through the evening.
• Whether other Northeast carriers follow United in issuing travel waivers.
• Any FAA statement on the cause of the New Jersey construction-site line cut.

This is a developing story; ABC News reported it is continuing to update coverage as the FAA provides further information.