FAA system outage affects flights in the U.S.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system that provides pilots with information to read before flying is experiencing an outage affecting flights in the United States.

It is unclear how many flights will be affected, because some airlines may operate without the information from the system, known as NOTAMS, or Notice to Air Missions System.

The FAA says “some functions are beginning to return to operation,” but added that it would take time to resolve. An earlier advisory said, “Technicians are currently working to restore the system and there is no estimate for service restoration at this time.”

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“We are performing final validation checks and refilling the system now,” said an FAA statement. “Operations throughout the National Airspace System are impacted. We will provide frequent updates as we move forward.”

According to the FAA’s latest update, the aviation authority ordered all airlines to pause all domestic flight departures until 9 a.m. ET to allow the agency to “validate the integrity of flight information and its safety,” CNN reported.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted this morning, “I contacted the FAA this morning about an outage affecting a key system for providing safety information to pilots. The FAA is working to resolve this issue quickly and safely so air traffic can resume normal operations and will continue to provide updates.”

The association representing U.S. airlines, Airlines for America, says the disruption is “causing significant operational delays.”

United Airlines said it has temporarily delayed all domestic flights.

American Airlines said in a statement that it is “closely monitoring the situation, which affects all airlines, and working with the FAA to minimize disruption to our operations and customers.”