Former top FAA official warns of 48-hour recovery after aging tech 'overwhelmed' ahead of ground stop

Former FAA air traffic senior executive Mike McCormick analyzes the router overload that caused the outage causing a nationwide shut down. McCormick weighs in on the time it will take for flights and airports to fully recover from this shutdown.

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A former top FAA official who helped shut down New York airspace on 9/11 urged Congress to fund an overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system after equipment problems led to a nationwide ground stop.

Speaking on "Fox & Friends Weekend" on Saturday, former FAA air traffic senior executive Mike McCormick said Friday's outage highlighted the challenge of updating the agency's aging technology.

"It is always a challenge to do any modernization, update or technical refresh into the FAA's air traffic control system. It's similar to if you're going to change a tire on a car while it's still moving down the road," McCormick said while discussing the outage.

"The newer technology overwhelmed the pre-existing technology, and it led to the overload of the switching and associated software in the telecommunications system," he added. "And that led to communication problems, and then eventually the nationwide shutdown."

THOUSANDS OF FLIGHTS CANCELED AFTER LONGEST NATIONWIDE GROUND STOP IN 25 YEARS ROCKS US AIRPORTS

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks during a press briefing at the Department of Transportation headquarters on Nov. 14, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The briefing followed a nationwide communications outage that grounded flights across the United States the previous day. (Aaron Schwartz / AFP via Getty Images)

McCormick said he supports funding initiatives aimed at upgrading the nation's air traffic control system, emphasizing that the technology must meet both current and future demands.

NBA AND NHL TEAMS BATTLE DELAYS AS NATIONWIDE FAA GROUND STOP DISRUPTS WEEKEND SPORTS TRAVEL

Although flights have resumed, McCormick warned that it could take days for air travel to return to normal.

"This will take several days in order to be able to get all of the aircraft, all the passengers, all the baggage, all of the flight crews, all where they need to be positioned to get the system up and running from early morning through the evening," he said. "So I would predict at least 48 hours in order to restore this completely."

At a Saturday news conference, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the outage began when a contractor performing routine maintenance at a remote FAA facility attempted to replace outdated copper lines with fiber-optic cables.

Duffy said a replacement router installed during the work flooded the agency's telecommunications network, triggering radar and radio instability. Duffy and Bedford said investigators found no evidence of a cyberattack.

FAA BREAKS CONTROLLER HIRING RECORD AFTER CHIEF WARNED SYSTEM WAS 'CHRONICALLY UNDERSTAFFED'

Travelers check a flight information display board at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Nov. 13, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Li Rui/Xinhua via Getty Images)

"Many of our contractors, many of our partners, they take our money, and they provide really poor service to us. Full stop," Duffy said, adding that he plans to submit a detailed funding request to Congress covering telecommunications upgrades and improvements to aging runways and control towers.

"This was an FAA system that didn't meet the moment, our contractor didn't meet the moment or the equipment didn't meet the moment, and caused the outages," Duffy said.

WHEN AIRLINE PILOTS SAY THERE ARE SAFETY ISSUES, WE NEED POLICYMAKERS TO LISTEN AND ACT

Despite the widespread disruptions, aviation experts said the decision to halt flights demonstrated the safety measures built into the nation's air traffic system.

Josh Schirard, a commercial pilot and head of law enforcement at Byrna Technologies, said the incident showed that the aviation system prioritizes passenger safety over convenience. He praised pilots, air traffic controllers and flight crews for safely bringing aircraft to the ground.

"The big takeaway from what we saw over the last 24 hours really is for the American traveler, how safe our air system really is, and yesterday was a great illustration of that," Schirard said.

"Through the safety of the infrastructure that does exist – through the pilots, the crew, the controllers, through the airplanes themselves and really the redundancy of protocols and practices that are in place – that all combined is what allowed us to take 3,500 planes in a matter of hours and over a million travelers and get them on the ground safely," he said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, left, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appear during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Nov. 13, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Scott Pattillo, a retired United Airlines pilot, said his initial reaction to a nationwide ground stop would have been disbelief if he had been flying at the time.

"Well, first thing I think is, 'Holy crap, is this real? Is this really happening on a Friday the 13th?' And second thing, it harps back to 9/11, and we all remember what that was like, especially if we were working and flying during that time," he said. "So the first thing, as a pilot, is I'm not [going to] panic."

Pattillo explained that, based on his understanding, the outage disrupted radar data and radio communications for high-altitude air traffic controllers. Airport towers and controllers handling arriving aircraft, however, relied on separate technology that was not affected by the same outage.

Pattillo said that distinction allowed pilots already in the air to continue along their assigned routes and safely reach their destinations.

"As a pilot, you have to remain predictable," Pattillo said. "And you're trained under certain scenarios what to do. And the best thing to do is continue on that path."

The air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is pictured on Nov. 13, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Li Rui/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Pattillo also defended the decision to ground flights nationwide, calling it "absolutely" the right move.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

"When you start to lose a level of safety that we all expect, then yeah, that was exactly the right call, to start shutting down the airspace," he said.

Madison Colombo is a writer for Fox News Digital’s Flash, Media, and Culture team, covering daily breaking news and trending topics with an award-winning background in broadcast and digital journalism.