Pete Buttigieg was among a growing number of Democrats demanding answers from the Trump administration after an unexplained nationwide ground stop disrupted air travel and left thousands of flights delayed or canceled Friday.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the hours-long stoppage as a “national emergency,” warning that officials still did not have “anything completely certain right now.”
According to flight-tracking service FlightAware, at least 8,200 flights arriving in or departing from the United States were delayed Friday, while nearly 7,500 were canceled.
Thousands more delays and cancellations had also been reported for Saturday.
Speaking at a Democratic convention in Denver, former Transportation Secretary Buttigieg poked fun at the performance of his successor, Sean Duffy.
Asked by The New York Times for his reaction, Buttigieg replied: “You can just write down the comic book asterisk swearing characters. I have questions.”
The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor continued making jokes throughout the evening.
“I will be available in the hotel bar following the conference for anybody who needs to rebook their flights or get a refund, per your rights,” he said.
Pete Buttigieg was among the Democrats demanding answers from the Trump administration after an unexplained ground stop disrupted thousands of flights Friday
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy briefs reporters on the nationwide ground stop ordered by the FAA
Buttigieg also questioned why backup systems within the department had failed to prevent such a widespread disruption.
“It is not clear to me why that redundancy did not prevent an outage of this magnitude,” he told The Advocate.
He nevertheless praised career employees and defended the work carried out during his time in office.
“This should not be about politics. I am very much rooting for them to get this resolved as quickly as possible.”
Buttigieg was attending the “What’s Next” conference, where Democrats were celebrating victories in the previous week’s midterm elections and discussing how to use their new congressional majorities.
The incident marked the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when Buttigieg was transportation secretary.
He was joined by a wave of Democrats calling for a full explanation from the administration.
“The safety of our skies is built on redundancies,” Wisconsin Senator Tammy Duckworth said in a statement.
Travelers wait at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia
At least 8,200 flights arriving in or departing from the United States were delayed, while nearly 7,500 were canceled
NEXT UP: Steven Seagal Unveils 400lb Physique at Russia’s Victory Day Parade
“Whatever led to the nationwide ground stop will warrant a thorough and complete investigation,” Duckworth added.
Representative Robert Garcia, the California Democrat who has repeatedly urged members of the administration and Donald Trump’s family to “lawyer up” as he prepares to chair the House Oversight Committee, said the situation left him perplexed.
“This is quite disturbing and pretty extraordinary of an action taken. Whatever it is, I think deserves as much transparency as possible,” Garcia told MS Now.
Liberal Congressman Ted Lieu also called on the FAA and the Trump administration to prevent a repeat of the disruption.
“I urge the FAA and the Trump administration to make sure this never happens again,” he told The LA Times.
“What just happened is enormously damaging to trust in our air system, and our air system is a vital component of our national economy.”
Before his prime-time White House briefing, Representative Ro Khanna criticized Duffy and other officials for failing to provide a clearer public account of the outage.
“I don’t understand why they’re not just in front of the cameras holding a press conference, trying to explain to the American people what’s going on,” Khanna told CNN.
Duffy later said that “old hardware that went down” had contributed to the nationwide flight stoppage, which was lifted shortly before 8:30 p.m. ET after a major communications failure.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the disruption as a “national emergency”
Officials in the Trump administration said the country’s air traffic control system required a complete overhaul, estimating the cost at about $50 billion.
“I think the question for the American people is, do you want your Congress to fund this?” Duffy said. “President Trump has asked for the money.”
Duffy said instability in radar communications at air traffic control centers began at 3:36 p.m. More than 3,500 aircraft were already airborne when the ground stop was announced.
FlightAware reported that at least 8,200 flights into or out of the United States had been delayed, while nearly 7,500 had been canceled.
More than 1,700 cancellations had already been recorded for Saturday.
At 3:54 p.m. ET, the Air Traffic Control System Command Center said the immediate suspension of US flights was necessary “due to extraordinary circumstances for safety reasons.”
The FAA said a temporary telecommunications outage had prompted the precautionary shutdown. “Every flight has been accounted for, and international flights will be handled on a case-by-case basis,” the agency said.
The stoppage quickly created confusion at airports nationwide. In some terminals, departure boards indicated that flights were operating as scheduled even as passengers were unable to board.
President Donald Trump was receiving regular updates on the situation, Our News Outlet understands.
