WASHINGTON: The US Federal Aviation Administration said Friday night that airplane departures can resume after the agency lifted a nationwide ground stop that Trump administration officials blamed on “overloaded,” “outdated” systems. Even with the order being lifted, the airlines will not be able to return to normal operations immediately because so many of their planes and crews are out of position. More than 2,000 flights were canceled Saturday as airlines across the U.S. worked to dig out from the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years, which stranded passengers and forced professional and college sports teams to scramble for alternate transportation. The FAA had grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon due to communications problems at regional air traffic control centers, causing hundreds of flights to be diverted. New technology being added overloaded antiquated equipment, leading to intermittent communications and radar gaps. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated that no one was in any danger as more than 3,000 flights safely landed Friday. However, the system is expected to operate normally in time for Thanksgiving travels. Officials say the problems were not linked to the FAA’s new AI-powered system, as that was not connected to the failure. The FAA has replaced thousands of old copper wires with fiber optic lines and plans to continue upgrading, but much work remains. At least 827 flights were diverted, with thousands more canceled or delayed. The impact extended to sports as some teams took buses to their destinations to avoid further delays. The stop was the first since January 2023, linked to a previous computer system malfunction. Emily Brown and her daughter experienced over a four-hour wait at Dallas airport, and similar situations affected countless passengers, including those grounded at Chicago O’Hare. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy encouraged NCAA teams to contact the FAA for prioritization of flights for Saturday games. Duffy blamed Congress for not approving additional funding for technological upgrades, emphasizing that potential system disruptions might occur again. International Flights and Past Problems International flights were being handled case-by-case, with some departing Friday evening. The situation echoes a past regional disruption linked to outdated technology, as aging equipment was previously blamed for similar outages. The aviation industry has been pushing for significant upgrades to prevent future occurrences, with billions needed to complete these crucial updates.