The FAA issued a ground stop for all JetBlue flights early on Tuesday morning after the airline requested a nationwide halt, believed to be over IT failures at the carrier.
JetBlue said it was scrambling to fix the technical problems to avoid cascading delays across US airports, with the halt initially expected to last about an hour. Passengers were urged to check flight status as the disruption unfolded.
One user on JetBlue’s Facebook page claimed the outage involved ‘IT issues that are making planes unable to communicate with the maintenance people if there is an issue in-flight.’
An air traffic controller at Salt Lake City airport could also be heard telling one pilot his flight was delayed because of ‘company IT issues.’
The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A ground stop is an air traffic control order that temporarily halts departures, typically issued for safety, weather or operational emergencies.
The disruption adds to mounting travel chaos nationwide, with TSA lines stretching up to four hours in recent days as officials blamed a Department of Homeland Security government shutdown for staffing shortages.
Travelers faced marathon waits over the weekend in Atlanta, Charlotte, New Orleans and Houston as spring break travel began, with delays spilling into Monday at some airports, including Chicago.
The FAA issued a ground stop for all JetBlue flights early on Tuesday morning
Thousands of passengers could be seen waiting in line to get through security in New Orleans at the weekend
It was a similar story in Houston with hundreds of airline passengers waiting in long lines to get through the TSA security screening at Hobby Airport
Democrats refused to include DHS in a recent spending bill due in part to alleged mismanagement by recently ousted secretary Kristi Noem.
The partial shutdown has left about 50,000 TSA screeners working without pay, spiking absences and creating massive lines at airports nationwide.
The White House Rapid Response X account shared a news package, saying: ‘Democrats need to end this purely political shutdown NOW!’
That followed a statement from the DHS which carried the same message, putting the blame on Democrats.
They said: ‘Americans across the country are now feeling the fallout from the RECKLESS Democrat shutdown of DHS.’
It continued: ‘Travelers are facing TSA lines up to NEARLY 3 HOURS LONG at some major airports, causing missed flights and massive delays during peak travel.
‘This chaos is a direct result of Democrats and their refusal to fund DHS. Their political stunt is forcing patriotic TSA officers to work without pay – leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages.
‘Enough is enough: stop holding national security and everyday Americans hostage. Democrats must fund DHS NOW.’
Both posts said TSA officers were working without pay and linked staffing shortages to missed flights and long security lines
Passengers are seen waiting in huge security lines over the weekend at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, in Kenner, Louisiana
The delays have only become worse during peak travel periods, with long queues snaking through terminals and into parking lots such as here at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston
In Louis Armstrong International Airport, New Orleans, the line for security was so long that it snaked all the way into a parking garage outside
In Houston on Sunday, one passenger told ABC13: ‘We got here at 10AM, my flight was departing at 1:50 and we’re not going to make that.’
In Louis Armstrong International Airport, New Orleans, the line for security was so long that it snaked all the way into a parking garage outside.
Footage emerged online showing passengers hauling their luggage through the multi-story on Sunday morning to reach the end of the line.
At William P. Hobby Airport in Houston was thousands of passengers had to line up for hours on end, footage taken at the airport over the weekend showed.
Travelers queued on stairways, through multiple concourses and even baggage claim with just one security line open on Sunday morning.
