FAA Ground Stop: All U.S. Flights Halted by Air Traffic Control Outage

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Video: CNN, “FAA orders nationwide ground stop due to ‘extraordinary circumstances’,” embedded with the official YouTube player. CNN coverage of Friday’s nationwide ground stop. Uploaded by CNN on Nov. 13, 2026. Running time 10:20.

INSTANT UPDATE

Latest: The FAA ground stop on all departing flights at U.S. airports was still in effect as of 5:25 p.m. ET Friday, with no official time frame for lifting it. The FAA blamed a “temporary telecommunications outage,” and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there is no indication of an attack.

  • What: A rare nationwide ground stop that keeps planes on the ground at U.S. airports “until further notice,” ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”
  • When: Friday afternoon, Nov. 13, 2026. The order was being reported publicly by 4:01 p.m. ET.
  • Where: All U.S. airports. Flights already in the air are allowed to land, and inbound international flights are handled case by case, the FAA said.
  • Who: The FAA, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. airlines and airports.
  • Current situation: FAA technicians are investigating a communication problem affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers. The FAA says every flight has been accounted for. Airlines say departures will resume only after the FAA lifts the stop.

Last verified update: 5:25 p.m. ET, Fri., Nov. 13, 2026

Key Points

  • The FAA halted all departing flights at U.S. airports on Friday afternoon after what it called a “temporary telecommunications outage” affecting air traffic control centers.
  • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the problem hit “all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” the facilities that guide planes between airports.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there is no indication of an attack and saw no reason to connect the outage to the ongoing Microsoft outage, but said he could not rule anything out.
  • Flight-tracking service FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled, Reuters reported, and Flightradar24 counted about 3,100 airborne planes bound for U.S. airports.
  • As of 5:25 p.m. ET there was no official estimate of when flights will resume. Travelers should check flight status with their airline before going to the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide FAA ground stop on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, halting departures at every U.S. airport after a communication failure hit the air traffic control centers that manage planes flying between airports. As of 5:25 p.m. ET Friday, the stop was still in place and officials had not said when it would be lifted.

Federal officials said the cause appears to be a telecommunications outage, not an attack. “There is no indication, we had no reason to believe, that as of right now, that this was a threat to the United States,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House, according to CBS News. Flights already in the air were allowed to land, and the FAA said every flight had been accounted for.

What happened

An alert from the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center told airports on Friday afternoon: “By order of the Federal Aviation Command Center all airports are ground stopped. All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice. Inbound international flights will be managed on a case by case basis,” CBS News reported. The FAA said the ground stop was imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” according to the Associated Press and the BBC. The BBC noted that the alert, posted on the FAA’s website, was later removed from it.

Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 flagged the order on X at 4:01 p.m. ET, saying all U.S. airports were ground stopped and that flights already airborne would be allowed to land. Shortly before the national order, the FAA had halted traffic in Chicago because of air traffic control communications issues, Reuters reported.

At 4:16 p.m. ET, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X that the FAA “issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.” An FAA statement quoted by Axios described “communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” so official wording on how many centers were affected has differed.

At 5:02 p.m. ET, the FAA posted on X: “There has been a temporary telecommunications outage – out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis.”

Is the FAA ground stop a cyber attack?

Officials say there is no sign of one so far. Speaking at the White House shortly after 5 p.m. ET, Mullin said, “This is a telecommunications outage,” and added that “all the flights are accounted for,” according to the BBC. He told reporters that “everybody is safe” and that “there should be no fear to the public at all.” He also stressed that “this isn’t another 9/11.”

Mullin did not offer a definitive cause. The BBC reported that he acknowledged the government does not yet know what caused the outage or how long it will take to fix, and that he could not “rule anything out.” Asked about a time frame, he said, “We have not discussed any time frame,” adding, “It’s going to take some time,” according to the BBC.

Mullin also said there is no reason to connect Friday’s air traffic problem with the separate, ongoing Microsoft outage, the BBC reported. LiveNewsWorld’s earlier coverage of that Microsoft Outlook and Exchange Online outage is a separate story; no official has linked the two.

Search interest in an FAA AI system also rose on Friday. Axios noted that the FAA has been rolling out a new AI tool designed to help manage airspace congestion, but said it is unclear whether that system has any connection to the communication issues. No official has tied the tool to the outage.

Are flights resuming?

Not yet, as of 5:25 p.m. ET. Neither the FAA nor the Department of Transportation had announced an end time. At 5:25 p.m. ET, American Airlines said on X that the FAA “has temporarily paused departures nationwide” and that it expects “disruption to our schedule for the rest of the day, depending on the length of the FAA’s nationwide ground stop.” United Airlines told a customer on X that its airborne flights would continue but “new domestic flights will not depart while the ground stop remains in place.”

The scale is large. FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled because of the ground stop, according to Reuters and MPR News. Flightradar24 said about 3,100 aircraft were in the air bound for U.S. airports at around 4:30 p.m. ET, the BBC reported, and CBS News counted roughly 3,000 at about the same time. One passenger at Los Angeles International Airport told CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, that a plane that had just landed could not taxi to its gate because another aircraft scheduled to take off was not being allowed to depart.

Even after the stop is lifted, recovery will take time. “When the issue is fixed, getting all the flights back on track will take time,” CBS News reported, noting it was unknown when that would happen.

What travelers should do

Airports including Atlanta, Washington Reagan National, Miami and Denver posted alerts on Friday telling passengers to check directly with their airline. Based on those airport and airline statements, here is what travelers can do now:

  • Check your flight status in your airline’s app or website before leaving for the airport. Airport departure boards may lag, as the BBC observed at Denver International Airport.
  • Use your airline’s app or website to rebook if your flight is canceled. United pointed customers to its online flight status and rebooking tools.
  • If you are already at the gate or on board, follow crew and airline instructions. Departures cannot resume until the FAA lifts the ground stop.
  • Expect knock-on delays into the evening, even after departures restart, as American Airlines warned.
  • Check the FAA’s National Airspace System status page at nasstatus.faa.gov for official airport-by-airport updates.

How rare is a nationwide ground stop?

Very rare. The AP reported that this is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. CBS News identified it as the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system. Reuters described Friday’s halt as the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. CBS News said it is only the third time such a nationwide stop has happened, after Sept. 11, 2001, and January 2023.

Mullin, in his remarks, recalled the 9/11 grounding as the last national ground stop, according to the BBC. News reports from the AP, Reuters and CBS News show the January 2023 NOTAM outage also led to a nationwide pause of departures. CBS News’ Kris Van Cleave has also explained how Friday’s departure stop differs from the full closure of U.S. airspace on 9/11.

FAA ground stop at a glance

Item What officials and trackers report
Scope All departing traffic at U.S. airports; airborne flights may land; inbound international flights case by case (FAA)
Stated reason “Temporary telecommunications outage” (FAA); communication issue at Air Route Traffic Control Centers (DOT)
Attack? No indication of an attack, but nothing ruled out (DHS Secretary Mullin)
Flights disrupted Nearly 7,000 delayed or canceled (FlightAware, via Reuters)
Planes airborne at the time About 3,100 bound for U.S. airports (Flightradar24, via BBC)
End time Not announced as of 5:25 p.m. ET

Source: FAA, U.S. Department of Transportation, DHS remarks as reported by the BBC and CBS News, FlightAware via Reuters, Flightradar24 via the BBC. Table: LiveNewsWorld.

Timeline

All times are Eastern Time on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.

  • Earlier Friday afternoon: The FAA halts traffic in Chicago over air traffic control communications issues, Reuters reported.
  • By 4:01 p.m.: The FAA’s command center has ordered all U.S. airports ground stopped; Flightradar24 flags the order on X at 4:01 p.m.
  • 4:16 p.m.: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says on X that a communication issue is affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
  • 4:26 p.m. to 4:55 p.m.: Reagan National, Atlanta, Miami and Denver airports post travel alerts telling passengers to check with their airlines.
  • About 4:30 p.m.: Flightradar24 says about 3,100 airborne aircraft are bound for U.S. airports, the BBC reported.
  • 5:02 p.m.: The FAA says on X that a “temporary telecommunications outage” led it to halt all flights and that every flight has been accounted for.
  • About 5:03 p.m.: DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin tells reporters at the White House there is no indication of an attack.
  • 5:25 p.m.: American Airlines says it expects schedule disruption for the rest of the day. The ground stop remains in effect.

Why it matters

Air Route Traffic Control Centers handle mostly high-altitude, en route airspace between airports, Axios explained. When controllers cannot reliably talk to aircraft, the safe option is to keep planes on the ground. “If you don’t have that ability, whether it’s because the old wires that they have are just run down or for whatever reason, you’ve got to stop airplanes on the ground,” aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo, a former United Airlines pilot, told MPR News.

The disruption is also the latest strain on an aging air traffic control system. Reuters reported that the system has been beset by equipment failures, communications problems and controller shortages while the FAA works to replace old infrastructure. Congress approved $12.5 billion for that overhaul last year, and the White House has asked lawmakers for another $30.1 billion, according to Reuters.

What happens next

FAA technicians are still investigating, and Duffy has promised “immediate updates.” The key next steps to watch are an official FAA announcement lifting the ground stop, a staggered restart of departures, and any further explanation of what caused the telecommunications failure. LiveNewsWorld will update this story when the FAA or DOT announces a change. For other breaking stories, follow our U.S. Breaking News Live center, or watch TV news coverage on our Watch Live News hub and CNN live page.

Frequently asked questions

Why did the FAA issue a nationwide ground stop?

The FAA said a “temporary telecommunications outage” affecting air traffic control led it to halt all flights “out of an abundance of caution.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the communication issue affected all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.

Was the FAA ground stop caused by a cyber attack?

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there is no indication of an attack and called it a telecommunications outage, though he said he could not rule anything out. No official has said the cause was a cyberattack.

Is the FAA ground stop over?

As of 5:25 p.m. ET Friday, no. The FAA had not announced when departures would resume, and Mullin said, “It’s going to take some time.”

Is this connected to the Microsoft outage?

Mullin said there is no reason to connect the air traffic problem to the ongoing Microsoft outage, according to the BBC.

How many flights are affected?

FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled, Reuters reported. Flightradar24 said about 3,100 aircraft were airborne and bound for U.S. airports when departures stopped.

When was the last nationwide ground stop?

January 2023, when the FAA’s NOTAM system failed, according to the AP. Before that, U.S. flights were grounded after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Sources