Hochul Demands Duffy Resign Over Nationwide Flight Ground Stop

Hochul made the call on Saturday, pointing at how Duffy's department handled the technical meltdown that froze US air travel a day earlier. She noted that over 3,500 planes were in the air when the ground stop hit, adding that 'we're fortunate no lives were lost.' If Duffy won't step aside, she said Trump should remove him — and she wants Congress to launch a full investigation.

'From chronic air traffic controller shortages to repeated communications breakdowns, serious lapses in our aviation system have become a pattern on Sean Duffy's watch,' Hochul claimed.

Duffy pushed back with his own explanation on Saturday. He confirmed the halt wasn't a cyberattack, pinning it on a contractor swapping copper wire for fiber cable in telecommunications lines — though he admitted the exact cause is still unknown. The network, he said, got slammed with around 1,000 connection attempts every four to five seconds. He again asked Congress for money to build a 'state-of-the-art' air traffic control system.

The travel chaos was brutal. FlightAware counted more than 3,300 canceled flights to, from and within the US as of 5:15 am ET Saturday, plus nearly 1,000 delays. Delta Air Lines lost the most flights, followed by United and American Airlines, while Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, New York's JFK and Boston took the hardest hits.

Duffy said operations are 'slowly turning back to normal' and that 'it is safe to fly,' while warning delays and cancellations could linger as airlines rebook passengers and reshuffle crews. In the UK, Civil Aviation Authority consumer director Tim Johnson said follow-on disruption is possible and told travelers to check with their airlines before heading to the airport.