The Federal Aviation Administration late Friday afternoon issued a nationwide “ground stop,” affecting flights across the country.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said just after 4:15 pm. Eastern time that the nationwide flight traffic halt came “following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.”
“FAA technicians are investigating the issue,” he said in a post on X. “We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”
The agency said the stop was due to “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” At least 7,000 flights have been delayed so far, per Flightradar24.
The outage comes the same day as the FAA deployed SMART, a new AI tool to help air traffic control. It’s unknown if it’s related at this time.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullins said the “first priority is making sure everyone is safe.” He doesn’t want people to assume this isn’t a safety threat to the American people or “another 9/11.”
He added that Duffy is “on this” and that he was “on the phone earlier with the president.” He emphasized that “everybody is safe” and “there is no fear to the public.”
When asked about the timeframe, he said they hadn’t “discussed any timeframe.”
As of late Friday afternoon, delays already were piling up at airports across the country, according to the FAA’s monitoring system: At Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, outside of New York City, the average delay was more than 75 minutes. At the Houston-Bush Intercontinental Airport, it was 60 minutes and rising. And it was even worse at Chicago O’Hare, where delays were 90 minutes and rising.
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The FAA notice said that inbound international flights would be managed on a “case-by-case basis.”
“The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports following communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” an FAA spokesperson told Business Insider. “FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide updates.”
Mark Stephens, a retired Delta Air Lines pilot, told Business Insider that pilots have a system for these situations to maintain safe distances from other aircraft and land within their limits.
Planes en route during a ground stop can still land; they “continue via the flight plan, and then start using backup methods.”
The last time a nationwide ground stop occurred was in January 2023, and it lasted only about 90 minutes. Before that, it was in 2001 on 9/11.
CNN reported this was not a cyberattack, citing law enforcement officials.
Airlines are also alerting their customers. United said, on its website: “Due to a nationwide ground stop by the FAA, we’re holding planes from taking off at this time. Planes already in flight will continue. We’ll update you as we learn more.” And Delta said: “Delta flights are currently being impacted by an ATC-mandated nationwide ground stop.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
