Fiber Cable Cut Halts Flights at New York, Philadelphia and Boston Airports

The Federal Aviation Administration halted flights at several busy airports along the US East Coast on Monday after a fiber cable was accidentally severed at a construction site in New Jersey.

Ground stops were issued for John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York, as well as Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The disruption came as roughly 130 world leaders and dozens of ministers were arriving in New York for the annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters that a backup fiber line had been cut accidentally by a construction crew in New Jersey, leading to significant flight reductions. He said a new circuit would be operational shortly, but it was not immediately clear when the ground stops at the New York-area airports would be lifted.

Flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that more than 600 flights at Newark and Philadelphia — over 20% — had been delayed at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control. Newark serves as a major hub for United Airlines, while Philadelphia is a hub for American Airlines.

The problem also forced a number of flights to be diverted to other airports. Flightradar24 said flights at Newark were being delayed by an average of 112 minutes.

The incident adds to recent troubles at the region's air traffic facilities. In May 2025, the facility guiding air traffic in and out of Newark suffered a series of significant communications outages. The FAA also said last year that a telecommunications outage had affected communications and radar displays at Philadelphia TRACON.

Last year, Congress approved $12.5 billion to address the aging air traffic control system and boost controller hiring, following decades of complaints over airport congestion, flight delays and a series of technology issues in recent years.