FAA halts all US departures over air traffic control outage

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide ground stop of all US departures on Friday 13 November 2026, after communications problems affected air traffic control centres. According to One Mile at a Time, the order was issued at 3:54pm Eastern. Passengers flying in, out of or within the US face delays, cancellations and missed connections, with the disruption expected to run into the weekend.

What the FAA and officials said

The FAA advisory cited "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety" and said departing traffic should stay grounded until further notice, with inbound international flights handled case by case, as AirlineGeeks reports. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described a communication issue affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers and said FAA technicians were investigating. Live and Let's Fly notes that an FAA spokesperson referred to "multiple" centres while Duffy said "all", so the sources differ on the scale.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a cyberattack, and called it a telecommunications outage, according to AirlineGeeks and One Mile at a Time. The Points Guy reports that the FAA said shortly after 5pm EST that every airborne flight had been accounted for, and Mullin said everybody was safe. Aircraft already in the air were allowed to continue to their destinations.

Scale of the disruption

Figures varied by source and time. The Points Guy, citing FlightAware, said nearly 1,700 US flights had been cancelled by 6pm EST, with more than 10,000 further flights delayed. Simple Flying cited FlightRadar24 as reporting more than 1,000 cancellations by the same time, and Cirium data indicating more than 11,000 flights were still due to depart that day. AeroTime said Flightradar24 counted about 3,100 aircraft airborne and bound for US airports, and that crews were told to expect holding because of equipment outages.

One Mile at a Time said the stop was initially set to run through 11:30pm ET, though it could end sooner, and that no end time had been confirmed. It also flagged a problem of aircraft continuing to land while none depart, which strains gate availability.

How rare is this?

AeroTime and The Points Guy both say this is the first nationwide halt since January 2023 and only the second since the 9/11 attacks. AeroTime reports the 2023 stop lasted roughly 90 minutes after the Notam system failed, while The Points Guy says more than 10,000 flights were cancelled in its aftermath. Live and Let's Fly reports that the White House and Department of Transportation have asked for a further $30.1 billion for aviation modernisation, including $10.1 billion for air traffic control, according to AeroTime. The cause of this outage has not been identified. One Mile at a Time noted the recent rollout of a new AI-based management tool but said there was no reason to believe it was related.

What this means for travellers

• Check before you travel: airports including Boston Logan have told passengers to check with their airlines, according to Live and Let's Fly.
• Look for waivers: The Points Guy says Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska and Hawaiian had begun issuing travel waivers allowing more flexible changes. American Airlines said its operations would be affected for the rest of Friday evening.
• Some flights continued: Alaska Air Group said flights within Alaska, Hawaii neighbour island services and West Coast to Hawaii departures were still operating. United Airlines said international departures were being handled case by case.
• Know your refund rights: under US Department of Transportation rules, cited by The Points Guy, passengers whose flights are cancelled or significantly delayed can claim a refund to the original payment method if they choose not to travel. A significant delay is generally three hours domestically or six hours internationally.
• Plan backups: hotels and rental cars near airports can sell out quickly, and receipts should be kept for possible reimbursement claims.

It is not yet known when departures will resume or how long knock-on delays will last.

Sources: Simple Flying, AeroTime, AirlineGeeks, One Mile at a Time, The Points Guy, Live and Let's Fly.