FAA Issues Nationwide Ground Stop for U.S. Airlines After Communications Outage

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday afternoon, November 13, 2026, directing all departing traffic to remain on the ground until further notice after a telecommunications outage that affected Air Route Traffic Control Centers.

The Air Traffic Control System Command Center issued the national stop at 12:53 p.m. Pacific (2053Z). The notice said the hold was "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety" and that "all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice." Inbound international flights would be managed case by case.

The disruption began regionally. Chicago O'Hare was held around 12:10 p.m. Pacific (2010Z) for communications issues, followed by stops in the Boston and Washington areas, before the nationwide order at 12:54 p.m. Pacific (2054Z).

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, speaking at the White House, said there was "no indication as of yet" that the outage was "a nefarious attack against us." He described it as a telecommunications outage and said officials were not ruling out a cyberattack, while adding that people already in the air had no reason for concern.

Flights already airborne were continuing, with holding as needed. Officials have not announced a time for restarting departures. As of 3:00 p.m. Pacific, the nationwide stop remained in effect. Some international and oceanic departures from the New York area, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area were being released with spacing.

FlightAware figures reported later Friday afternoon showed more than 10,000 delays and more than 1,200 cancellations for flights within, into, or out of the United States.

Key details

• This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a failure of the FAA's NOTAM system halted departures for about 90 minutes.
• The FAA described a "temporary telecommunications outage" and said flights had been halted out of an abundance of caution.
• The Command Center advisory's filed window ran through 11 p.m. Eastern; that window is not a confirmed restart time, and the order itself said "until further notice."

"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," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

Why it matters

A nationwide departure hold quickly backs up afternoon banks at airports across the country. Even after the stop is lifted, held flights will have to be metered back into the system, so delays are likely to continue well beyond the outage itself.