US air travel ground stop paralyses airports nationwide as a communication failure strands thousands of passengers on Friday.
Did You Know? The nationwide ground stop is only the third of its kind in recent US history, following the groundings ordered after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and a pilot alert system failure in January 2023.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the suspension of all departures across the country shortly before 16:00 EST on Friday, November 13, 2026. Officials cited extraordinary circumstances and safety reasons for keeping aircraft on the ground until further notice.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that a communications problem affected all en route air traffic control centers. Technicians rushed to determine the origin of the glitch as airports filled with stranded travellers.
FlightAware data recorded more than 7,800 delayed flights and nearly 350 cancellations by late afternoon. Meanwhile, Flightradar24 tracked more than 1,000 aircraft already airborne and heading toward US destinations.
International arrival flights faced evaluation on a case-by-case basis. In Canada, airports in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver logged dozens of cancellations and delays on connections to the United States.
US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that government authorities had no indications the disruption was intentional. He explicitly ruled out any terror links during a briefing at the White House.
“This is not another 11 de septiembre,” Mullin told reporters, explaining that people naturally recalled the 2001 grounding because it was the last time the nation faced a total flight standstill.
“Esto no se va a resolver y revertir en una hora. Va a tomar algún tiempo,” said Mullin, warning that resolving the telecom outage would require patience. He added a message of reassurance for the public: “Todos están seguros. Todos los vuelos están contabilizados y no debería haber ningún temor por parte de la población.”
The interruption extended beyond North American borders as European air navigation safety agency Eurocontrol suspended inbound flights from member states at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Aeroméxico and Volaris announced operational restrictions affecting routes to the United States. In Santiago, Chile, the international airport confirmed the cancellation of three departures bound for Miami, New York, and Los Angeles.
Airlines scrambled to accommodate affected passengers by offering flexible rebooking options. Major carriers urged travellers to check status updates before heading to terminals.
The Federal Aviation Administration attributed the grounding to a communications failure affecting air traffic control centers across the country. CBS News reported that an update to a private communications network operated by L3Harris may have triggered a system reboot.
Aircraft already airborne when the order was issued continued their journeys and landed at destinations like Chicago O’Hare. However, upcoming international arrivals are evaluated on a strict case-by-case basis.
Authorities have not provided an exact reopening time, warning that resolving the telecommunication failure will take hours. Technicians continue working to restore full communication across all regional control centers.
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