Trump Blames Biden for US Flight Crisis Despite FAA Saying Root Cause of Nationwide Ground Stop Is Unclear

President Donald Trump blamed Joe Biden's administration on Sunday, 15 November, for America's flight crisis after a nationwide ground stop disrupted thousands of journeys. Federal officials were still investigating the precise technical failure behind Friday's shutdown of departures.

The disruption began on 13 November when telecommunications instability affected air traffic control communications and radar systems. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted departures nationwide as a safety precaution before reopening airspace that evening.

Airlines continued cancelling flights throughout the weekend as they struggled to reposition aircraft and crews.

Trump Blames Biden as US Flight Cancellations Mount

Trump addressed the disruption publicly on Sunday morning, nearly two days after the ground stop, blaming his predecessor's administration in posts on Truth Social.

'The Biden Administration was an FAA disaster. Everything they touched turned bad,' Trump wrote.

He accused Biden's administration of wasting money and worsening ageing aviation infrastructure.

However, he provided no evidence establishing that decisions made under Biden caused Friday's technical failure.

Trump also pressed Congress to approve funding for a comprehensive overhaul of the air traffic control system.

'Our FAA is doing a great job, and is ready to go,' he wrote.

In a subsequent post, Trump claimed much of the existing infrastructure was 50 years old and urged lawmakers to finance faster modernisation.

The political dispute unfolded as airlines struggled to recover from one of the year's most disruptive periods for American aviation.

FlightAware recorded 9,159 cancellations and 7,190 delays on Friday, according to figures reported by CBS News.

More than 6,400 additional flights were cancelled on Saturday, further complicating travel plans across the country.

FAA Investigation Examines Contractor Work Behind Nationwide Ground Stop

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the outage occurred during maintenance involving defence contractor L3Harris, which provides telecommunications infrastructure for the FAA.

Workers had been replacing ageing copper connections with fibre technology when a router began overwhelming other equipment with connection requests.

The resulting instability affected communications and radar feeds, prompting authorities to suspend departures.

Duffy said investigators were examining whether installation error or defective equipment caused the malfunction. No definitive finding about the contractor's responsibility had been announced.

L3Harris said it was cooperating with the FAA's investigation into the incident.

Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford defended the decision to ground flights, citing the need to protect passengers while controllers dealt with unstable systems.

Officials also reported finding no evidence of a cyberattack.

The administration's investigation therefore remained focused on technical failures and maintenance procedures rather than evidence linking the disruption directly to Biden-era decisions.

Duffy said on Sunday that airlines were making progress towards normal operations, although aircraft and crews remained out of position.

He expected flight schedules to recover more fully by Monday, 16 November.

Meanwhile, Trump continued pressing Congress for additional infrastructure funding, maintaining that his administration could replace the ageing system more quickly if lawmakers approved the money.