FAA Ground Stop Lifted After 4 Hours: 13 November 2026
Update (14 November 2026): The FAA lifted the nationwide ground stop on Friday evening, 13 November, about four hours after ordering it. Departures restarted in stages that evening, and delays and cancellations continued into Saturday.
On Friday afternoon, 13 November 2026, the United States stopped flying. At 3:54 p.m. Eastern time, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered every departing flight at every airport in the country to stay on the ground — the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, and only the third in American history.
The cause, according to the FAA, was a telecommunications outage affecting the centres that guide aircraft between airports. There was no indication of a cyberattack, officials said. The stop was lifted on Friday evening, about four hours after it began, and departures restarted in stages that night — but by then more than 10,000 flights had been cancelled or delayed, and the disruption spilled into Saturday. This is what happened, why it happened, and what it means if you are travelling.
What Happened
The order came from the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center, the body that manages the national airspace. Its advisory said the stop was ordered "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety," and told all departing traffic to remain on the ground "until further notice." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the order in a public post, saying the FAA had issued "a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers."
The stop applied to departures only. Aircraft already in the air were allowed to continue to their destinations and land. International flights heading into the United States were handled case by case. Flights within Alaska, and within Hawaii, were not affected, and Pacific-bound flights out of San Francisco International Airport — including flights to Hawaii and Asia — were cleared to depart about two hours after the order, at around 3 p.m. Pacific time.
A later FAA advisory, issued at 5:46 p.m. Eastern, allowed flights to depart as the en-route centres recovered, in coordination with the Command Center. The nationwide restriction itself was lifted on Friday evening, about four hours after it had been ordered, and departures restarted in stages that night, airport by airport, rather than all at once.
Why It Happened
The FAA described the cause as a telecommunications problem affecting all of its Air Route Traffic Control Centers — the 22 regional centres that direct aircraft while they are flying between airports. FAA technicians were investigating, and as of 13 November the exact equipment fault had not been identified.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that a telecommunication outage had prompted the order and that there was no indication of a cyberattack. The FAA said separately that there had been "a temporary telecommunications outage" and that "out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted," adding that every flight had been accounted for.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the disruption on old, overloaded equipment, saying radar and communications data had become unstable at control centres and terminal radar facilities because ageing switches and routers were overloaded. He said fixes had been deployed to reduce the overloading, and warned that recovery would be gradual as airlines assessed crew availability. The investigation into the exact fault remained open.
That last point mattered. A ground stop is a safety tool, not a punishment: when controllers cannot reliably communicate with aircraft, the safest option is to keep planes on the ground rather than launch more of them into a system that cannot be managed normally. The FAA chose the widest possible version of that tool — every airport, all at once.
How Big the Disruption Is
The scale became clear within hours. Flight-tracking data cited by Reuters put nearly 7,000 flights delayed or cancelled by Friday afternoon; by the evening, flight-tracking summaries put the total above 10,000 flights cancelled or delayed across the United States. FlightAware's late-evening count put Friday's cancellations within, into or out of the United States at 7,365, with 1,758 more already listed for Saturday.
Flightradar24, which tracks aircraft live, said 4,042 flights were already airborne and bound for U.S. airports when the stop began. By 4:20 p.m. Eastern, that number had fallen to about 3,100, with no new aircraft taking off. At major airports, gates filled up with aircraft that could not leave, and some incoming planes were diverted to smaller nearby airports because there was nowhere to park them.
The disruption landed on a Friday afternoon — one of the busiest travel windows of the week — and it hit every kind of flying at once: business trips, weekend breaks, connecting flights and holiday travel. Because aircraft and crews ended up in the wrong places, the effects spilled into the weekend even after departures restarted, as airlines worked to get planes and staff back where they belonged.
What It Means for Travellers
If you have a flight in the next day or two, the most important step is simple: check your flight's status with your airline before you leave for the airport. Do not assume a flight will go because it was scheduled to go. Airlines were rebooking passengers as departures restarted, and schedules were changing hour by hour.
If your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a refund under U.S. Department of Transportation rules — airlines must refund the ticket price when they cancel a flight, even for a non-refundable ticket, if you choose not to travel. If you accept a rebooking instead, keep receipts for food, hotels and other costs caused by the delay: some airlines will cover reasonable expenses, and travel insurance may cover the rest.
Passengers who were already at the airport when the stop began faced long waits with little information. The FAA's public National Airspace System status page, at nasstatus.faa.gov, publishes airport-level delay and ground-stop information, and it is the best official source for what is actually happening at a given airport. Your airline's app is the best source for your own flight.
One thing not to do is to rush to the airport in the hope of catching an earlier flight. With gates full and crews out of position, the system recovers in stages, and the earliest available seat is usually the one your airline offers you — not the one you find by turning up.
What Happens Next
- Phased restart: departures restarted in stages on Friday evening as the en-route centres recovered, coordinated through the FAA's Command Center — not all at once, but airport by airport and region by region.
- Weekend knock-on effects: airlines cancelled some weekend flights as aircraft and crews remained out of position, even after the stop itself was lifted, with more than 1,700 Saturday cancellations already listed on Friday night.
- Investigation: FAA technicians were working to identify the exact telecommunications fault, and the question of how a single outage could affect all 22 control centres at once will be central to that inquiry.
- Markets: regular trading in airline shares resumes on Monday 16 November, when investors will get their first full chance to price in the cost of the disruption.
For now, the advice from the FAA and the airlines is the same: check before you travel, expect delays, and keep your booking flexible if you can.
Nationwide Ground Stops in History
What happened on 13 November 2026 has happened only twice before. The first nationwide ground stop came on 11 September 2001, when all U.S. airspace was closed after the terrorist attacks — planes were ordered to land immediately, and civilian flying stopped for days.
The second came on 11 January 2023, when a failed database file in the FAA's NOTAM system — the system that sends safety notices to pilots — forced the agency to halt departures nationwide for about 90 minutes while the system was restored. Thousands of flights were delayed that morning, and the incident led to a review of the FAA's ageing technology.
The 2026 stop is different from both. It was not caused by an attack, and it was not a single software file: it was a failure of the telecommunications links that the control centres depend on to talk to aircraft. That it could affect all 22 centres at once is what made the stop nationwide — and what makes the investigation that follows so important.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a ground stop?
A ground stop is an FAA order that keeps departing flights on the ground at one or more airports. It is used when conditions — weather, equipment failure or congestion — make it unsafe or impractical to launch more aircraft. A nationwide ground stop applies to every airport in the country at once.
When did the FAA ground stop start?
The nationwide ground stop was issued on Friday 13 November 2026 at 3:54 p.m. Eastern time (20:54 UTC) by the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center, and it was lifted on Friday evening, about four hours later.
Why did the FAA stop all flights?
The FAA said a telecommunications outage affected all of its Air Route Traffic Control Centers — the 22 regional centres that guide aircraft between airports. With controllers unable to communicate reliably, the agency halted departures as a safety precaution.
Is the ground stop caused by a cyberattack?
Officials say no. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a cyberattack so far, describing the cause as a telecommunication outage. The exact equipment fault had not been identified as of 13 November.
Can planes already in the air land?
Yes. Aircraft that were already airborne when the stop began were allowed to continue to their planned destinations and land. The order applied to departures only, not to flights already flying.
Are international flights affected?
Inbound international flights were managed case by case, and some were diverted to smaller airports when gates at major hubs filled up. Flights within Alaska and within Hawaii were not affected.
When did flights resume?
Departures restarted in stages on Friday evening, 13 November, about four hours after the stop began, as the en-route centres recovered, coordinated through the FAA's Command Center. Airlines warned that full schedules would take longer to restore, with cancellations continuing into Saturday.
Will I get a refund if my flight is cancelled?
Yes. Under U.S. Department of Transportation rules, airlines must refund the ticket price if they cancel a flight and you choose not to travel — even if the ticket was non-refundable. If you accept a rebooking instead, keep receipts for expenses caused by the delay.
Related Reading
- Brooklyn Building Collapse: 8 Dead in Flatbush — another breaking US news story from this week.
- Polar Vortex November 2026: USA Freeze — the weekend freeze hitting millions across the US.
- Scott Colom: Mississippi's First Black Senator Since 1881 — the other big result from the 2026 midterms.
Sources
- Wikipedia — 2026 FAA communication outage — consolidated timeline of the 13 November 2026 ground stop, including the 3:54 p.m. start, the 10,000+ cancelled or delayed flights, and the Alaska/Hawaii and San Francisco exceptions.
- After You Land — FAA Nationwide Ground Stop, 13 November 2026 — quotes the FAA advisory in full and reports Secretary Duffy's statement, the Reuters/FlightAware figures and the Secretary of Homeland Security's remarks.
- The Black Box Aviation Podcast — The FAA Ground-Stopped Every U.S. Airport — Flightradar24 airborne figures and the FAA National Airspace System status check, 13 November 2026.
- Make Tech Easier — FAA ground stop telecom outage — reports the FAA's 'temporary telecommunications outage' statement, the 5:32 p.m. status check and the refund position for travellers.
- Engadget — FAA Allows Flights To Resume After Hours-Long Ground Stop Across The US — reports the lifting of the ground stop on Friday evening and Secretary Duffy’s remarks blaming old air traffic control equipment.
This article was updated on 14 November 2026 after the FAA lifted the ground stop on Friday evening. Flight status can change quickly — check the FAA status page at nasstatus.faa.gov and your airline before travelling.