US air travel disruptions continued for a third day with more than 5,200 flights already affected on Sunday, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted a return to normalcy by Monday even as airlines scrambled to get back on schedule following a systemwide ground stop.
More than 1,600 flights nationwide were canceled and almost 3,600 were delayed on Sunday, according to aviation data site FlightAware. Airlines on Saturday had canceled more than 6,400 US flights and delayed more than 8,000.
Duffy said on ABC’s “This Week” programme there is no evidence of a cyberattack or other malicious intent in the matter, but the cause remained unclear.
Duffy said that flights will come “back to normal” on Sunday “but probably fully normal” on Monday, and emphasized the Federal Aviation Administration’s focus on keeping passengers safe.
On Sunday, 27% of JetBlue flights and 13% of American Airline flights were canceled, with Southwest, United Airlines and Delta reporting cancellations of 3% to 5% of their flights.
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday that halted nearly all departing flights for almost five hours.
It was the longest nationwide halt to US air travel since the September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on the United States.
