Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) was among the many airports nationwide that were impacted by a major Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) computer failure.
ABC News reported that the system outage prompted the FAA to impose a ground stop that delayed morning takeoffs for domestic flights from San Francisco to Boston.
The federal agency said the ground stop “has been lifted,” ABC News reported.
"We continue to look into the cause of the initial problem,” the FAA tweeted.
Like its many counterparts across the country, Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported, AUS warned travelers that delays could continue throughout the day and advised them to check their flight status before coming the airport.
“The FAA has lifted the ground stop but cancelations and delays are expected through today as airlines work to restore their regular operations,” airport officials said, according to the station.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that the White House said it’s unlikely the system failures were caused by a cyberattack.
Per the report, President Joe Biden has directed the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to conduct an investigation.
About 5,000 flights were delayed while 900 others were cancelled, the AP reported.
The nationwide ground stop occurred approximately two weeks after a combination of severe winter weather and purportedly dated technology forced low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines (SWA) to cancel thousands of flights during the busy Christmas travel season.
National Public Radio (NPR) reported that the crisis could cause SWA to hemorrhage as much as $825 million.