A method and system for emulating an Fibre Channel link over a SONET transport path by which Fibre Channel data is transported across the SONET/SDH transport path. To provide link integrity, techniques to handle link failures from a Fibre Channel element to its associated Fibre Channel port, or of the SONET/SDH network linking Fibre Channel ports include transmitting error condition codes over the SONET/SDH transport path overhead to a remote Fibre Channel transport interface so that the Fibre Channel link from the remote Fibre Channel transport interface to the associated remote Fibre Channel port is disabled. Timing the length of failures and return of operation of the failed links is used to handle transient conditions and to avoid link bouncing.