In brief

• US President Donald Trump addressed for the first time a four-hour nationwide air traffic disruption that hit on Friday and continued over the weekend.
• Trump asked Congress for more money to modernise air traffic control and blamed the Biden administration for the system's condition.
• The FAA reported about 12,000 cancellations on Friday and expected 4,000 to 5,000 of 41,000 Saturday flights to be cancelled.

Trump blames predecessor and asks Congress for funds

US President Donald Trump on Sunday commented for the first time on the four-hour nationwide disruption to air traffic that hit the United States on Friday and kept complicating flights over the weekend („Může za to Biden.“ Trump se vyjádřil k výpadkům letů v USA, žádá modernizaci – iDNES.cz) (Letecký provoz nad Amerikou utichl. Může za to Biden, prohlásil Trump. Řekl si také o víc peněz – Aktuálně.cz) (Trump bez důkazů obvinil bývalého prezidenta Bidena z víkendového výpadku letů v USA – iROZHLAS). He urged Congress to release more money for modernising air traffic control and said the condition of the system was the result of the administration of Democrat Joe Biden.

In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump said his administration had already started the modernisation but that it should not be carried out piecemeal. He wrote that most of the current system dates back about 50 years.

Scale of cancellations

The Federal Aviation Administration reported that roughly 12,000 flights were cancelled on Friday (Pre výpadok leteckej dopravy bude v USA zrušených vyše 16-tisíc letov – HNonline.sk). It expected that 4,000 to 5,000 of the 41,000 flights scheduled for Saturday would also be cancelled. FAA chief Bryan Bedford said traffic should return to normal by Sunday evening, though airlines would still face delays during Saturday.

Thousands of passengers were stranded at US airports during the weekend.

Cause still unclear

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin rejected on Friday speculation about a coordinated cyberattack on the United States and any link to the disruption.