Flights between the US and Australia are back on track after Friday's FAA ground stop — the longest halt to US flights since the September 11 attacks — stranded aircraft and cancelled close to 10,000 flights across the American network.
The good news for anyone currently mid-itinerary: the overnight services into Australia largely recovered in the air. Qantas' QF16 from Los Angeles reached Brisbane about three hours late on Sunday morning, with QF12 into Sydney running roughly two and a half hours behind. But several flights made up the time entirely — Delta's DL41 and Qantas' QF94 to Melbourne both landed early, and United and American services into Sydney from Los Angeles and San Francisco arrived within about half an hour of schedule despite late departures. Saturday night's departures from the major US gateways were all showing on time.
The cause is the part that should worry travellers. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told a Saturday briefing that a router being installed during a routine telecom upgrade — a copper-to-fibre switchover at a remote FAA site handled by contractor L3Harris — began flooding other routers with more than 1,000 connection attempts every few seconds, knocking out communications with aircraft and radar. Officials don't believe it was a cyberattack, and the FAA is now deciding whether the router was faulty or badly configured. Just over 70% of the fibre upgrade is complete, and Duffy has asked Congress for US$50 billion to modernise the system.
Recovery was swift by Saturday, with only about 160 cancellations logged and FAA administrator Bryan Bedford predicting "full schedule integrity" by Sunday's close. But the timing is brutal: nearly 29 million passengers are due to fly on US airlines between 20 and 30 November for Thanksgiving, with Sunday 29 November expected to be the single busiest day. Airlines have also burned through aircraft and crew positioning, and Delta, American and United each absorbed thousands of cancellations — Delta and American more than 2,200 apiece.
For Australians booked to the US in the next few weeks — right as the peak Thanksgiving-to-ski-season window begins — the practical advice is to check waivers before changing anything. United is waiving change fees and fare differences for rebooking through 20 November, Delta's systemwide waiver covers travel on or before 21 November, and American's applies at 21 airports including LAX through 17 November. Under US DOT rules you're entitled to a full refund if you decline rebooking on a cancelled flight. Australian advisors, backed by ATIA templates and direct airline liaison, are prioritising travellers departing within 72 hours.
The takeaway for anyone connecting through the US this month: build in buffer time on domestic legs, know your waiver window, and keep an eye on your airline's app — the system held up this time, but with a third of the upgrade still to go and record crowds inbound, there's little margin for a repeat.
