US ground stop delays 2 Cathay flights, leaves passengers stranded

The Airport Authority expects flights between the United States and Hong Kong to be affected today and tomorrow due to the air traffic distruption in the US.

Cathay Pacific states the flights CX 807 and CX 879 returning to Hong Kong from the US have been delayed due to a temporary ground stop order issued by US authorities.

A pilot believes the temporary grounding was primarily intended to reduce air traffic volume for easier management.

In response to the temporary US ground stop, Cathay Pacific reported flights CX807 from Chicago and CX879 from San Francisco to Hong Kong were delayed, while other flights operated according to schedule.

Information screens in the airport departure hall showed Delta Air Lines flight DL088, scheduled to depart for Los Angeles at 10:45am, was cancelled.

It remains unclear whether this was related to the US "ground stop order."

While other flights bound for Los Angeles and Seattle departed as usual.

At the United Airlines check-in counters, passengers continued to check in for their flights.

This passenger from Shenzhen said she might have to adjust her itinerary, since hotels and other arrangements have already been booked.

This man said this situation has not happened in many years and it was completely unexpected.

An American passenger expressed concerns over safety.

I am worried about flight safety.

I think there is just a big question mark around the world right now in terms of security.

And I think when there's questions on whether we can land or take off, it just kind of feeds into global insecurity that we already have.

Which doesn't make me safe when it comes to travelling anymore.

US authorities stated the incident was caused by a failure in the air traffic communications system.

Chairman of Hong Kong Professional Airline Pilots Association Steven Cheung explained aircraft takeoffs and landings generally rely on the same communications system, which allows control towers in different locations to hand over flight information and regulate separation distances and altitudes.

He also noted halting departures is a standard safety measure during a system failure.