A key U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system that delivers safety messages to pilots, known as the “Notice to Airmen” (NOTAM) system, experienced a temporary outage for several hours on Saturday. The system resumed operations after being down for more than three hours, caused by a hardware issue. This incident follows another failure of the NOTAM system earlier in February.
The FAA confirmed that the main NOTAM system had suffered a “temporary outage” and was subsequently reset. The agency assured the public that it was investigating the root cause of the failure and was closely monitoring the situation. NOTAM provides crucial safety notices to pilots, flight crews, and other airspace users, including updates on operational changes such as runway closures, taxiway light malfunctions, or parachute activity nearby.
“All active NOTAMs were available until the time of the outage,” the FAA stated. On Friday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced plans to overhaul the aging U.S. air traffic control system and is expected to unveil further details next week.
A previous nationwide NOTAM outage in January 2023 led to a ground stop that affected over 11,000 flights, marking the first such U.S. disruption since 2001. In response, the FAA had outlined plans to phase out an older NOTAM system by mid-2025.
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) President Nick Daniels emphasized the urgency of addressing the system’s shortcomings. Daniels suggested that the FAA would need at least $154 million for research and $354 million for a full replacement of the outdated NOTAM system. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has urged the FAA to take immediate action, noting that one-third of the agency’s air traffic control systems are unsustainable.