Flights across the New York area were disrupted on September 21, 2026, after an air traffic control communications failure in Philadelphia forced the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to restrict arrivals at several major airports. The disruption affected John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), La Guardia Airport (LGA) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), as well as Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Teterboro Airport (TEB) in New Jersey.

Ground stops began at Newark, Teterboro and Philadelphia around 10:00 local time, with JFK and La Guardia affected later. By approximately 15:00, JFK and La Guardia had moved to ground delay programs, while restrictions continued at Newark and Teterboro. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility lost its primary communications circuit.

A backup fiber-optic connection between New Brunswick and Newark, New Jersey, had also been severed during unrelated construction work. Crews were working to install a replacement circuit and repair the damaged backup connection. The loss of radar data and radio communications forced controllers to limit traffic.

Approximately 90 flights were diverted immediately after communications were lost. The disruption came as world leaders traveled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. The Philadelphia facility was also involved in communications outages that disrupted Newark flights in 2025.

Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to modernize US air traffic control infrastructure and support controller hiring.