FAA Grounds All US Flights After Air Traffic Control Communications Failure — Second Nationwide Stop Since 9/11
The US Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights nationwide on Friday after a communications failure hit air traffic control centres across the country, in only the second nationwide halt since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Planes already in the air were allowed to land, but nothing on the ground could take off, and inbound international flights were to be handled case by case.
The order, issued "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety", took effect at 3:54 p.m. Eastern Time. The FAA's advisory told all aircraft operators that "all airports are ground stopped" and that departing traffic should "remain ground stopped until further notice". The advisory listed an estimated end of 11:30 p.m. ET, though the agency gave no guarantee that flights would resume then.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the stop followed "a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers", the 22 regional facilities that direct aircraft across large stretches of US airspace. "FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them," Duffy said. Flight tracking service FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or cancelled because of the stop, and Flightradar24 reported the order followed an equipment outage, with the FAA advisory also citing frequency issues across the National Airspace System.
Shortly before the nationwide order, the FAA had halted traffic in Chicago because of air traffic control communications issues. The cause of the failure was not immediately clear, and the agency did not say how long repairs might take.
Friday's halt was the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since 9/11. The other came on 11 January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours after its Notice to Air Missions system failed — a preliminary review found contractors had accidentally deleted files while synchronising a database.
The disruption is the latest sign of strain on the US air traffic control system, beset by equipment failures, communications problems and shortages of controllers while the FAA tries to replace ageing infrastructure. Congress approved $12.5 billion for the overhaul last year, and the FAA and the White House asked lawmakers on Friday for another $30.1 billion. On Polymarket, traders gave the stop only a 20% chance of lifting by 6 p.m. ET on Friday, rising to 32% by 8 p.m. and 76% by noon on Saturday — pricing in a long disruption.