Hochul Demands Duffy Resign After Nationwide Flight Halt

On November 14, Hochul called for Duffy to step down or asked President Donald Trump to dismiss him, a day after a Federal Aviation Administration telecommunications outage halted flights across the country. The stoppage was lifted later on November 13, but cancellations and delays continued into Saturday, affecting travelers including those in the New York region.

Hochul said more than 3,500 aircraft were airborne as radar and communications systems failed, and that no one was killed. She cited chronic air traffic controller shortages and recurring communications problems as evidence of what she called a pattern of failures during Duffy’s tenure. She also criticized his YouTube travel series, saying he had focused on it rather than the problems at his agency.

The FAA’s nationwide halt led to more than 7,500 canceled flights and 25,000 delays, according to FlightAware. At a November 13 briefing, Duffy attributed the outage to aging equipment, saying overloaded switches and routers in an analog system had failed. Officials had not issued a final determination of the cause.

Hochul urged Congress to investigate before the holiday travel rush, saying travelers deserve answers and confidence in aviation safety. Duffy has said department ethics officials approved his series and that it used no taxpayer money. The Department of Transportation had yet to reply to a request for comment.

Hochul Puts Aviation Failures on Duffy’s Watch

A nationwide flight halt exposed serious weaknesses in the aviation system, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy should be held accountable. On November 14, she demanded that he resign or that President Donald Trump remove him after a telecommunications outage stopped flights across the country the previous day.

Hochul cited a lack of air traffic controllers and recurring failures in communications, describing them as a pattern under Duffy. She said more than 3,500 aircraft were already airborne as radar and communications systems failed, and called for Congress to investigate before millions of people travel for the holidays. Her demand puts the focus on oversight and public safety, not simply on restoring flights after a crisis.

The FAA lifted its nationwide halt later on November 13, but the disruption led to more than 7,500 cancellations and 25,000 delays, according to FlightAware. Duffy blamed aging equipment, saying overloaded switches and routers in an analog system failed. Officials had not made a final determination of the cause.

Hochul also faulted Duffy for his YouTube travel series, saying he had been more focused on that than on agency problems. Duffy has said ethics officials approved the series and that it involved no taxpayer money. Hochul wants Congress to establish what failed and help ensure the disruption does not happen again.

Hochul Turns Flight Disruption Into a Political Attack

Kathy Hochul is using a nationwide aviation outage to demand the ouster of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, even as officials had not reached a final conclusion about what caused the failure. On November 14, the New York governor called on Duffy to resign or President Donald Trump to remove him after a telecommunications outage halted flights on November 13.

Hochul blamed chronic controller shortages and recurring communications trouble on Duffy’s leadership, and urged Congress to investigate before the holiday travel rush. But the available explanation from Duffy was a failure of aging equipment: he said overloaded switches and routers in an analog system went down. Pinning responsibility on the secretary before officials complete their determination turns a technical breakdown into a partisan fight.

The consequences for travelers were substantial. The FAA lifted its nationwide halt later on November 13, but more than 7,500 flights were canceled and another 25,000 delayed, according to FlightAware. Disruptions continued into November 14, including in the New York region.

Hochul also attacked Duffy over a YouTube series following his travels. Duffy has said ethics officials approved it and that no taxpayer money was spent. Her call for a congressional investigation may establish what happened, but her demand for his immediate removal came before officials had publicly settled the outage’s cause.