Flights began departing again across the United States on Friday evening after an air traffic control communications failure triggered the longest nationwide ground stop since the 11 September 2001 attacks. The halt lasted more than four hours, and nearly 5,000 flights had been cancelled by Friday evening, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.
Departures halted across the country
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the ground stop on Friday afternoon, 13 November, after communications problems affected centres that manage aircraft between airports. The order kept most departing flights on the ground. Many aircraft already in the air continued to their destinations, while others returned to their departure airports or diverted elsewhere.
At Chicago O’Hare, delays spread across departure boards as the order took effect. Washington Dulles, Los Angeles International and Nashville International received diverted flights. The disruption also reached international routes. Air Canada cancelled its remaining Friday services between Canada and the United States, while United Airlines and JetBlue announced widespread cancellations for the rest of the evening.
Officials point to overloaded equipment
US officials said older equipment in the air traffic control network became overloaded as new technology was being installed, causing intermittent gaps in communications and radar coverage. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said switches and routers on the older network had failed. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officials had seen no indication of a cyberattack. The precise cause of the overload remained under investigation on Friday evening.
Airlines face a weekend backlog
The FAA lifted the order on Friday evening, allowing departures to resume gradually. FlightAware had already recorded nearly 800 cancellations for Saturday by Friday evening. Airlines faced the task of repositioning aircraft and crews and finding seats for passengers whose flights had been cancelled.
It was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a separate FAA system that distributes safety notices to pilots failed. Duffy said he expected operations to recover before the peak Thanksgiving travel period.
Newshub Editorial in North America – 14 November 2026
Flights began departing again across the United States on Friday evening after an air traffic control communications failure triggered the longest nationwide ground stop since the 11 September 2001 attacks. The halt lasted more than four hours, and nearly 5,000 flights had been cancelled by Friday evening, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.
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