L3Harris Says Over 70 Pct Of US Aviation Communications Upgrade Completed After Flight Disruption

ISTANBUL, Nov 15 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- US aerospace and defence contractor L3Harris on Saturday said it has completed more than 70 per cent of a communications infrastructure upgrade supporting US airspace, following a nationwide flight disruption on Friday.

Anadolu Ajansi reported the company said the modernisation project, carried out in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration and telecommunications partners, involves replacing aging copper lines with fiber-optic technology.

In a statement on X, L3Harris said the conversion was intended to modernise the communications network supporting US air traffic operations, emphasizing "safety and reliability as our highest priorities."

The announcement came as authorities investigated a technical disruption that forced the Federal Aviation Administration to halt flights nationwide, stranding thousands of passengers and leaving airlines struggling to restore their schedules.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the incident appeared to have originated during routine maintenance at a remote facility where copper telecommunications lines were being replaced with fiber-optic connections.

Officials have not determined whether contractor error, faulty installation or defective equipment caused the disruption.

L3Harris said it was cooperating with the aviation regulator's investigation to establish what led to the outage.

The company also acknowledged the broader consequences of the incident, saying it took the nationwide ground stop and its impact on "travelers, airlines and air traffic operations seriously."

The Federal Aviation Administration said the system returned to stability, while airlines continued working to restore normal operations.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU