FAA grounds all flights across the US over air traffic control ‘communication issue’ as nearly 7,000 flights disrupted

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued an unprecedented nationwide ground stop halting all departing flights across the United States after a critical communication failure struck air traffic control centers nationwide, leaving nearly 7,000 flights delayed or canceled.

In an emergency operational alert issued to aircraft operators around 4:10 p.m. ET on Friday, November 13, the Federal Aviation Command Center ordered all U.S. airports to immediately freeze outbound traffic: “DUE TO EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES AND FOR REASONS OF SAFETY. ATTENTION ALL AIRCRAFT OPERATORS, 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,” the FAA directive read.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that the sweeping shutdown was triggered by a systemic communication failure impacting every regional Air Route Traffic Control Center across the country—the facilities responsible for directing high-altitude flights between airports.

Taking to social media he wrote: “The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” Duffy wrote on X. “FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”

The nationwide lockdown followed localized disruptions earlier in the evening, when the FAA temporarily halted air traffic in Chicago—including ground stops affecting Midway International Airport—due to early air traffic control communication problems.

According to flight-tracking service FlightAware, nearly 7,000 flights have already been delayed or canceled across U.S. airports, with that number climbing rapidly as the freeze ripples through airline schedules.

Only Second Nationwide Ground Stop Since 9/11

Nationwide ground stops are an extraordinary measure in U.S. aviation history, reserved strictly for severe national emergencies or systemic safety failures. Friday's shutdown marks only the second time the FAA has grounded all domestic departures since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks—with the only other instance occurring in January 2023 when a critical pilot notification system (NOTAM) malfunctioned.

Shut-down comes hours after White House requested $30.1B for aging systems upgrade

The infrastructure breakdown carries stark political timing: earlier on Friday, the White House and the Department of Transportation formally urged Congress to approve an additional $30.1 billion to overhaul the nation's aging air traffic control communications network, building on $12.5 billion passed by lawmakers in July last year.

In a joint statement issued just hours before the airspace shutdown, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the funding was urgent to modernize failing infrastructure: “This investment is critical to complete the modernisation of our national airspace - delivering a resilient telecommunications backbone for air traffic controllers, modern hardware and software, state-of-the-art control towers, and world-class airport infrastructure.”

Far reaching impact

It is currently unknown how long the incident will last, as missed departures of this scale will continue to have a knock on effect for passengers over the coming days.

International travel has also begun to be affected, with flights into the US also suffering, such as this evening's flights from Heathrow, London to JFK among the early halted flights.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as federal aviation officials provide further details on the outage and timeline for reopening U.S. airspace.