FAA Issues Rare Nationwide Ground Stop for All U.S. Airports Over Communications Failure

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday at all U.S. airports, halting departures due to a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control centers. Issued by the Air Traffic Control System Command Center under extraordinary safety circumstances, it marks only the second such event since 9/11, following a 2023 incident. Officials including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed no signs of a cyberattack, with technicians investigating and thousands of flights now delayed or canceled as recovery begins.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the order on X, stating: “The @FAAnews 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.”[]()

The FAA’s advisory cited “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” instructing all aircraft operators that “all airports are ground stopped” and “all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice.” Inbound international flights were to be managed on a case-by-case basis. Flights already airborne were permitted to continue to their destinations.[]()

Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) manage en-route traffic across the National Airspace System. The United States has 22 such facilities. Reports indicated the disruption began affecting communications, radios, and automation systems at multiple centers, with some accounts linking the start of problems to the Kansas City Center before it spread more broadly. The exact cause remained under investigation by FAA technicians, with preliminary indications from law enforcement sources that it was not a cyberattack.[]()

Nationwide ground stops are extremely rare. The most recent prior instance occurred in January 2023, when a failure in the NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system grounded flights for roughly 90 minutes and affected thousands of operations. Before that, the FAA ordered a full nationwide ground stop following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.[]()

The order quickly produced cascading delays at major airports, including Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway, as well as facilities in New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. Flight-tracking data showed thousands of aircraft airborne and bound for U.S. airports at the time the stop was issued, raising the prospect of diversions if gates filled while no new departures were allowed.[]()

This remains a developing situation. The FAA has said it will provide updates as more information becomes available. Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for the latest flight status.