Washington DC, Nov. 14 -- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted the nationwide ground stop imposed across airports in the United States following a telecommunications outage that disrupted air traffic control operations, triggering thousands of flight delays and cancellations.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, addressing reporters during a press briefing, attributed the technical failure to ageing telecommunications infrastructure and called on Congress to provide funds for a comprehensive overhaul of the country's air traffic control system.

Duffy said the disruption began at approximately 3:36 pm (local time), when radar and communication systems at air traffic control centres and Terminal Radar Approach Control (...