# Pete Buttigieg Defends FAA Upgrades Amid Ground Stop

> Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg insists his administration upgraded FAA systems before Friday’s nationwide ground stop.
- Title: Pete Buttigieg Defends FAA Upgrades Amid Ground Stop · TheWrap
- Summary: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg insists his administration upgraded FAA systems before Friday’s nationwide ground stop.
- Keywords: faa ground stop, pete buttigieg, transportation secretary, faa, us department of transportation, telecommunications outage, TheWrap
- Source: TheWrap — https://thewrap.com/media-platforms/politics/pete-buttigieg-responds-faa-ground-stop-blame
- Author: Alyssa Ray
- Published: 2026-11-14T05:26:33+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: faa ground stop, pete buttigieg, transportation secretary, faa, us department of transportation, telecommunications outage, entertainment, culture, business
## Pete Buttigieg Pushes Back
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg denied blame for Friday’s FAA ground stop, saying his administration upgraded the system.

> We did a lot to upgrade the system.
## FAA Ground Stop Cause
Current Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed outdated technology and legacy systems for the outage.

> We have old switches, old routers. We use 1980s little copper lines.
## System Upgrade Claims
Duffy stated $15 billion has been allocated to FAA over 25 years with minimal progress on modernization.

> Barely anything was done.
## Key takeaway

Pete Buttigieg says his administration did significant upgrades to the FAA system before Friday’s ground stop.