The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all departing flights in the United States.
U.S. airspace has reopened and flights are returning to normal operations following a nationwide ground stop on Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration lifted the suspension after a communications failure affected 22 regional air traffic control centers. While flying is safe, transportation officials noted that flights can only resume gradually and disruptions may persist into Sunday.
- The FAA's order grounded nearly all aircraft scheduled to take off during the five hours it was in effect.
- Duffy and Bryan Bedford pointed to ongoing systemic issues with air traffic control technology.
- The telecommunications failure affected all 22 regional air route traffic control centers responsible for directing aircraft across the US.
- More than 2,500 flights were cancelled in the US on Saturday.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the airspace has reopened.
- Flight tracking service FlightAware reported nearly 6,000 flights were canceled.
- Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was zero evidence of a cyberattack or rogue AI system causing the outage.
- US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy formally asked Congress for $30.1 billion in funds to upgrade and modernize the US Air Traffic Control System.
- The ground stop was the first nationwide suspension of flights since January 2023.
- Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated there was no indication the incident posed a threat to the United States.
- The ground stop was caused by a communication issue affecting air traffic control.
- The United States experienced its second nationwide aviation disruption of this kind since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
- Flights are resuming normal operations in the United States.
- Tens of thousands of people were stranded at airports.
- US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy encouraged NCAA football teams to contact the FAA.
- FAA chief Bryan Bedford anticipated between four and five thousand of the 41,000 scheduled flights today would likely be cancelled.
- The airspace reopened at 01:15 GMT.
- US lawmakers called for investigations into the cause of the massive disruption.
- Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said a contractor was replacing copper wire with fiber wire in a remote location.
- The Department of Transport advised all US-bound passengers to check with their airline for updates.
- London Heathrow's website stated an 8.20am flight to Dallas Fort Worth was cancelled.
- Dublin Airport warned of delays and possible cancellation of scheduled services.
- Andrew Charlton said the stoppage affected about a quarter of the 45,000 flights in the U.S. each day.
- The air traffic chaos in the United States lasted for four hours on November 13.
- McCormick estimates these control centers take over flights at altitudes over 10,000 feet.
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