NOTAM outage to cause ‘residual delays’ to flights in US on Sunday: Transportation secretary

Due to a NOTAM system outage, over 360 flights were delayed and 59 cancelled. The FAA is providing updates via a hotline and activated a backup system.

Flights across the United States are likely to experience ‘residual delays’ on Sunday morning due to an outage from the previous evening in the primary NOTAM system, according to US transportation secretary Sean Duffy.

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The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is working to restore the temporary outage, Duffy said.

“The primary NOTAM system is experiencing a temporary outage, but there is currently no impact to the National Airspace System because a backup system is in place,” he wrote on X.

“All active NOTAMs were available until the time of the outage. The agency activated its contingency system to supplement and support preflight briefings and continue flight operations. We are investigating the root cause and we will provide updates,” he added.

As of early Sunday morning, there were more than 360 delayed flights and 59 cancellations, CNN reported citing FlightAware, a tracker of flights.

NOTAM or ‘Notice to Air Missions,’ is a computer system which alerts pilots about conditions which could affect the safety of their flights. The conditions could include information about lights being out on a runway, a tower near an airport lacking the required safety light working, or an air show being held in the air space nearby.

Though separate from the air traffic control system – the latter helps planes keep safe distance from each other – NOTAM is another critical tool for air safety.

Previously, a January 2023 NOTAM outage briefly halted all flights in the United States.