Complications with the fueling system at Boston Logan International Airport on Sunday night resulted in a ground stop and subsequent flight cancellations and delays, according to the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport).
The issue, which began Sunday evening, caused a low fuel pressure event in the system that delivers fuel to planes. This triggered an automatic shutdown of the system in accordance with safety protocol, BOSFuel, the operator of the airport's fuel system, said in a statement.
Airport operations resumed normal service after the fueling system was restored to full capacity by 10:00 p.m. ET. BOSFuel stated that the technical issue has been addressed and no further disruptions are anticipated.
During the outage, arriving flights continued to land at Logan, but tarmac congestion occurred due to a shortage of available gates for incoming aircraft. An air traffic control recording from ATC.com described the airport's tarmac as a "parking lot" for planes. Controllers advised pilots to confirm gate assignments before departing for Logan.
The fueling system issue added to existing delays that occurred earlier on Sunday due to thunderstorms in the region.
The disruptions came as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had predicted the Fourth of July air travel period to be one of the busiest in 15 years, with over 300,000 domestic flights managed by air traffic controllers over the holiday weekend.
This is not the first time Logan Airport has experienced such issues. The FAA issued a brief ground stop in September 2024 due to a BOSfuel outage, according to Boston ABC affiliate WCVB.