FAA lifts ground stop on all U.S. flights

The Federal Aviation Administration at about 8:15 Eastern Time on Nov. 13 lifted the nationwide ground stop of all U.S. flights that had begun after problems with air traffic control communications systems started to materialize at 3:36 p.m. in the afternoon. An estimated 1.5 million travelers were stranded as a result of the shutdown of the domestic departing flights. The agency did not initially provide details as to why it issued the extremely unusual order. The agency said that flights airborne during the takeoff shutdown were handled on an individual basis. Flights from the East Coast and West Coast to foreign destinations were allowed to take off because shortly after departure they would be handled by international controllers.

During a news Friday night news conference at the White House Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the communications problems on old-style equipment and used the situation as a basis for demanding that Congress appropriate $50 billion so that the Trump administration could have an entirely new air traffic control system built. His $50 billion figure was up from the $30 billion the administration had said it wanted all along. Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also used the news conference as an opportunity to praise Donald Trump, saying that he understands how the air traffic control system works and what is wrong with it today. They said there is no evidence yet of any cyberattack that led to the equipment problems.

During the ground stop, the FAA’s Air traffic Control Command Center issued an advisory seen by Westfair’s Westchester County Business Journal that advised aircraft currently in the air that they could expect holding delays before being cleared to land because of equipment outages. It said that the FAA would provide further information later.

Shortly after the ground stop went into effect,

Shortly after the ground stop went into effect, Duffy at 4:16 p.m. posted a message on social media, “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.”

“Approach is ATC Zero, and Chicago Center is close to being ATC Zero as well for equipment,” a controller warned pilots approaching Chicago in audio captured by the site ATC.com during the ground stop. “We lost all of the frequencies and all of the automation for the handoff and strips and stuff.” Frequencies refers to radio frequencies, a handoff is when one controller turns a flight over to another controller and strips refers to data that tells a controller about what a particular aircraft is and its routing.

An information message broadcast to pilots using Westchester

An information message broadcast to pilots using Westchester County Airport at 5:56 p.m. on Friday advised “Nationwide frequency issues due to equipment and frequency outages across the national airspace. All departures are stopped at the moment.”

The last time there was a nationwide ground stop was in January 2023, when a pilot notification system known as the NOTAM system failed. NOTAMS provide current information to pilots about airport operations and hazards, such as the runways in use, weather conditions, runway closings and navigation aids that may be out of service. Prior to that, the last nationwide ground stop was issued after the September 11, 2001, attacks.