FAA Orders Nationwide Ground Stop Following ‘Temporary Communications Outage’

The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded flights nationwide.

In an advisory issued on X Friday, November 13, the FAA announced it was halting departing flights at airports across the United States due to a communication issue affecting the nation’s air traffic control system.

Per a report from CNN, which obtained the full advisory, the FAA confirmed the disruption is affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, which oversee aircraft traveling through large portions of U.S. airspace. Technicians are working to investigate the issue, with the agency promising further updates as more information becomes available.

According to the advisory, which was issued by the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center, the ground stop took effect at 2:54 p.m. Central Time, with an estimated end time of 10 p.m. Central Time, though the advisory notes that it is in place until “further notice.”

“Due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” the advisory states, per CNN, “all airports are ground stopped.”

While little is yet known about the exact circumstances surrounding the FAA’s advisory, according to preliminary reports, law enforcement officials tell CNN that the grounding is not a result of a cyberattack, with the outlet noting that President Donald Trump has been briefed on the matter.

The FAA has not confirmed when flights will be allowed to resume, adding that international flights arriving in the United States will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

The latest ground stop marks the first nationwide FAA grounding since January 2023, when a failure in the agency’s Notice to Air Missions system forced officials to temporarily halt domestic departures.

At the time, airlines were ordered to pause flights for roughly 90 minutes as technicians worked to restore the system. The outage triggered more than 10,000 flight delays and over 1,300 cancellations across the country, a 2023 report from CNN notes.

According to the outlet, the 2023 incident was the last nationwide ground stop since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.