Here's what you should know before flying out of Pearson during the FAA outage
A widespread computer outage at the Federal Aviation Administration is causing travel delays in and out of the United States, which could mean headaches for those hoping to catch a flight out of Toronto Wednesday morning.
A spokesperson for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) said passengers flying to the U.S. out of Toronto Pearson International Airport may encounter some delays as a result of the outage.
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Those travellers are being asked to check the status of their flight and, if affected, contact the airline directly for next steps.
Flights are still moving in the U.S., but there are more than 7,500 trips within, into, or out of the country that have been delayed by the outage, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.
The FAA paused all domestic departures until 9 a.m. to allow the agency to "validate the integrity of flight and safety information." The ground stop has since been lifted.
All flights currently in the air are safe to land, the FAA said.
A quick scan of Pearson's departures and arrivals boards showed more than a dozen delayed flights into or out of the U.S. Wednesday morning. The GTAA told CTV News Toronto that 34 per cent of all departures between 6 and 9 a.m. were impacted by the outage.
The FAA said it is working to restore what is known as the Notice to Air Missions System (NOTAMs) to get systems back online.
NOTAMs used to be available through a hotline but that was phased out with the internet. The alerts span from mundane information about construction at airports to urgent flight restrictions or broken equipment.
Travellers make their way through Pearson International Airport in Toronto Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
The agency said that it would provide frequent updates as it made progress.
With files from The Associated Press
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