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U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: The nationwide grounding today is because our air traffic control system is still running decades-old simulators that are simply inadequate for 21st-century needs. Thanks to the $12.5 billion initial funding secured by President Trump, the FAA is modernizing this aging infrastructure, but that's far from enough. We are requesting resources from Congress to build a state-of-the-art air traffic control system. We can no longer afford to patch up a critical system that affects every family. It's time for Congress to act. Give us the funds to fix it. Pass the Modern Skies Act now.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: I think we'll be back to normal operations when the Thanksgiving travel peak arrives.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: The nationwide grounding order was lifted at 8:15 p.m. ET. At 3:36 p.m. ET, multiple facilities and terminal radar approach control centers across the country experienced telecommunications problems, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue a grounding order out of an abundance of caution. At the time, more than 3,500 aircraft were in the air. Pilots and air traffic controllers safely landed their aircraft according to established procedures, and by 8 p.m. ET, the number of aircraft in the airspace had decreased to below 400. The FAA confirmed that not all radar or telecommunications were lost at the time and exceptionally allowed critical medical evacuation, life-saving cargo, and law enforcement flights to continue operating.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Mullin: New equipment and technologies are overwhelming old systems; old legacy equipment is failing and will continue to fail.

According to Fox News: When reporters pressed him on how Americans could continue to trust the previously malfunctioning aviation system, Transportation Secretary Duffy impatiently replied, "I can't build anything without money!"

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: I have spoken with Trump, and Trump is paying close attention.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: There will be more risks if the old aviation system continues to exist.

According to NBC News, when asked by a reporter whether Americans should believe the current air traffic problems won't happen again, U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy stated, "We'll have to wait until we get $30 billion for system modernization." Previously, Duffy had indicated that the air traffic system needed $50 billion from Congress for repairs.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: We have been able to deploy corrective measures to reduce overloading.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Mullin: The Federal Aviation Administration was installing software patches on the system at the time.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: Communications or radar have not been completely disrupted.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: It will take some time to restore capacity.

According to Fox News, the secretary to U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy stated that the malfunctions were caused by old, legacy equipment. No upgraded hardware was involved.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Mullin: No evidence has been found that this incident was caused by a cyberattack or artificial intelligence.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Mullin: We are still reviewing the possibility of cyberattacks and have not ruled it out.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: Recovery from Friday’s events will take time, with tens of thousands of passengers stranded and many potentially forced to sleep at airports. We hope Congress will provide us with emergency funding.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: $50 billion is now needed for air traffic control upgrades.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: Switches and routers actually crashed due to data overload.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy: No communications or radar were lost during the grounding.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Mullin: The public has never been in danger; we are working to resolve the issue.