Real occurrence · dated 2026-11-13 · Desk Verified · Last meaningful update Nov 13, 2026, 6:48:04 PM EST

Filed at Steve's Desk · Editor & verifier

FAA ordered departures halted nationwide around 4 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 13 after a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA said a temporary telecommunications outage had led it to halt flights out of an abundance of caution, and that every flight had been accounted for. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, speaking at the White House beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern, also described a telecommunications outage, said there was no indication of a threat or attack, and said officials had not given a timeframe for restoring communications. In official Homeland Security posts at 5:24, 5:42, and 5:43 p.m. Eastern, Mullin said President Donald Trump had taken a lead immediately, that everybody is safe, and that officials intended to get airborne flights on the ground. At 5:46 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center reissued the nationwide ground stop as Advisory 120, giving the reason as a communications failure, and said the stop remains in effect. It said that as en-route facilities recover, flights will be allowed to depart through coordination with the Command Center. The operations plan issued at the same time, Advisory 119, said traffic will be released from the nationwide ground stop as conditions allow, in a tiered approach as limitations are reduced and volume can be increased. Both advisories list the nationwide ground stop as active until 11 p.m. Eastern, which is the listed window and the expected next update time, not a confirmed lift time. As of 6:47 p.m. Eastern, the Command Center status summary, last updated at 6:47 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports, identified as Advisory 120, with the board's reason still given as an equipment outage. The public airport-status feed did not list a nationwide ground stop. Residual Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) equipment-related departure delays were listed on the Command Center board at Newark (EWR) and Houston Intercontinental (IAH). Chicago O'Hare (ORD), which had been listed on that board at 6:26 p.m. Eastern, was not on the Command Center delay board or the public delay list at this check. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) remained closed to diversion aircraft because of capacity, from 6:23 p.m. Eastern until 4 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 14. No official lift statement had been issued, and no newer nationwide-stop advisory had been published after Advisory 120.

Updates

Newest first. Entries are retained; legacy date-only entries have no recorded time.

1. # Nov 13, 2026, 6:48:04 PM EST · fact update

   Changed: current account, known facts. As of 6:47 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center status summary still listed the nationwide ground stop as Advisory 120 for an equipment outage. No official lift statement had been issued, and no newer nationwide-stop advisory had been published. FlightAware listed 10,243 delayed and 3,328 cancelled U.S. flights, with cancellations up from 2,595 at 6:26 p.m. Eastern.

   Account before this update

   FAA ordered departures halted nationwide around 4 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 13 after a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA said a temporary telecommunications outage had led it to halt flights out of an abundance of caution, and that every flight had been accounted for. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, speaking at the White House beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern, also described a telecommunications outage, said there was no indication of a threat or attack, and said officials had not given a timeframe for restoring communications. In official Homeland Security posts at 5:24, 5:42, and 5:43 p.m. Eastern, Mullin said President Donald Trump had taken a lead immediately, that everybody is safe, and that officials intended to get airborne flights on the ground. At 5:46 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center reissued the nationwide ground stop as Advisory 120, giving the reason as a communications failure, and said the stop remains in effect. It said that as en-route facilities recover, flights will be allowed to depart through coordination with the Command Center. The operations plan issued at the same time, Advisory 119, said traffic will be released from the nationwide ground stop as conditions allow, in a tiered approach as limitations are reduced and volume can be increased. Both advisories list the nationwide ground stop as active until 11 p.m. Eastern, which is the listed window and the expected next update time, not a confirmed lift time. As of 6:26 p.m. Eastern, the Command Center status summary still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports, identified as Advisory 120, with the board's reason still given as an equipment outage. The public airport-status feed did not list a nationwide ground stop. Residual Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) equipment-related departure delays were listed on the Command Center board at Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Newark (EWR), and Houston Intercontinental (IAH). Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) was listed as closed to diversion aircraft because of capacity, from 6:23 p.m. Eastern until 4 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 14. No official lift statement had been issued, and the Command Center had not said which facilities would be released first.

   • Around 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, the FAA Command Center ordered a nationwide ground stop for departing flights "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." The advisory said all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice, and that inbound international flights would be managed on a case-by-case basis. Aircraft already airborne continued.
   • At 4:16 p.m. Eastern, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA issued the nationwide ground stop "following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) are the FAA facilities that handle high-altitude en-route traffic. Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating and that updates would follow.
   • Axios reported an FAA statement that similarly attributed the stop to communication issues impacting multiple ARTCCs.
   • As of 4:32 p.m. Eastern, the nationwide Command Center alert was no longer posted on the FAA's current operations advisory page. The National Airspace System status feed, last updated at 4:28 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. It showed formal ground stops only at Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) for an equipment outage, scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, plus equipment-related departure delays at Newark (EWR), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), Orlando (MCO), Phoenix (PHX), Las Vegas (LAS) and Teterboro (TEB).
   • A previous nationwide departure halt occurred on Jan. 11, 2023, after a failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts crews to hazards such as runway closures and equipment outages.
   • As of 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop or any formal airport-level ground stops. The Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) ground stops that had been scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern were no longer posted. Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post remained his latest comment.
   • At 4:58 p.m. Eastern, the public airport-status list still showed departure delays coded to the national stop or FAA equipment at several hubs, including Atlanta (ATL, 45 minutes), Newark (EWR, 75 minutes), Fort Lauderdale (FLL, 60 minutes), Houston Intercontinental (IAH, 60 minutes on that list), Miami (MIA, 45 minutes), Chicago O'Hare (ORD, 90 minutes), Las Vegas (LAS, 15 minutes), and Teterboro (TEB, 90 minutes). Those delay lines were no longer on the public list by 5:03 p.m. Eastern. A Command Center summary checked at 5:00 p.m. Eastern had still listed residual departure delays of about 45 to 90 minutes at those airports. By 5:03 p.m. Eastern, that summary no longer listed those delays and instead showed a 75-minute departure delay at New York Kennedy (JFK) coded as FAA equipment.
   • As of about 5:03 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 9,086 delayed and 446 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 24,313 delayed and 1,040 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes. Reuters, updated at 4:50 p.m. Eastern, said FlightAware reported nearly 7,000 flights delayed or cancelled because of the nationwide ground stop.
   • CNBC reported that an internal Alaska Airlines message, seen by CNBC, described the disruption as related to communications and radar issues. United Airlines said airborne flights would continue. The FAA and Secretary Duffy have not given a more specific official cause than a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
   • At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA's official X account said there had been a temporary telecommunications outage and that, "out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted." The agency said every flight had been accounted for and that international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis. It did not say the nationwide ground stop had been lifted. Earlier official accounts, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the Command Center advisory, said aircraft already airborne would continue; that guidance has not been withdrawn.
   • Beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House that the disruption was a telecommunications outage, that every flight had been accounted for, and that there was no indication of an attack or a threat to the public. BBC, CNBC, Axios, and Fox News reported the remarks. Mullin said officials had not discussed a timeframe and that restoring communications would "take some time." He also said there was no reason to connect the outage to a separate Microsoft outage. Fox News reported that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had spoken with President Donald Trump about the disruption. Neither Mullin nor the FAA said the nationwide ground stop had been lifted.
   • As of 5:33 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:33 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing still showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:32 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. Formal ground stops on that public list were at Montreal-Trudeau (YUL), scheduled to end at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and Toronto Pearson (YYZ), scheduled to end at 6:15 p.m. Eastern, both with the reason given as "other." Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post and the FAA's 5:02 p.m. Eastern post remained their latest official comments on X.
   • By about 5:33 p.m. Eastern, departure delays coded to the national stop or to FAA equipment were again listed on the Command Center summary and the public airport-status list at several hubs: Atlanta (ATL), about 2 hours and increasing, coded as a national stop; Newark (EWR), about 1 hour 45 minutes and increasing, coded as FAA equipment; Houston Intercontinental (IAH), about 1 hour 45 minutes and increasing, coded to traffic-management initiatives and an equipment stop; New York Kennedy (JFK), about 1 hour 45 minutes and decreasing, coded as equipment; Chicago O'Hare (ORD), about 2 hours 15 minutes and increasing, coded as FAA equipment; and Teterboro (TEB), about 2 hours and increasing, coded as FAA equipment. Separate weather and volume programs remained in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes.
   • As of about 5:33 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 9,917 delayed and 988 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 25,264 delayed and 1,604 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect. At 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the same FlightAware board had listed 9,086 delayed and 446 cancelled U.S. flights.
   • CNBC reported that flight-data firm Cirium said 11,000 flights were scheduled to depart U.S. airports after 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
   • At 5:05 p.m. Eastern, Flightradar24 said some international flights were being allowed to depart on a case-by-case basis, and that Etihad's Boston–Abu Dhabi flight had departed about 20 minutes earlier. That is consistent with the Command Center advisory's language on international flights; it is not an official statement that the nationwide departure stop has been lifted.
   • As of 5:45 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:45 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing still showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:44 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. Formal ground stops on that public list remained at Montreal-Trudeau (YUL), scheduled to end at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and Toronto Pearson (YYZ), scheduled to end at 6:15 p.m. Eastern, both with the reason given as "other." Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post and the FAA's 5:02 p.m. Eastern post remained their latest official comments on X.
   • By 5:45 p.m. Eastern, Atlanta (ATL), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), New York Kennedy (JFK), and Teterboro (TEB) were no longer listed on the Command Center delay board or the public airport-status list. Residual departure delays coded as FAA equipment remained at Newark (EWR), about 2 hours and increasing as of a 5:35 p.m. Eastern update, and Chicago O'Hare (ORD), about 2 hours and 30 minutes and increasing as of a 5:42 p.m. Eastern update. Separate weather and volume programs remained in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes.
   • As of about 5:45 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 10,343 delayed and 1,338 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 25,848 delayed and 1,967 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect. At 5:33 p.m. Eastern, the same FlightAware board had listed 9,917 delayed and 988 cancelled U.S. flights.
   • The official Homeland Security X account posted additional clips of Secretary Mullin's White House remarks. At 5:24 p.m. Eastern it quoted him saying every agency with an asset involved was working together and that "The President took a lead in this immediately and he gave us the assets and the communication to move forward in a fast way." At 5:42 p.m. Eastern it quoted him saying there was no reason to be concerned about loved ones who were flying. At 5:43 p.m. Eastern it quoted him saying officials were assured that everybody is safe and that "everyone in the air that's currently on the plane...we're going to get you on the ground." Secretary Mullin's official account reposted those items. That language concerns landing airborne flights safely; it is not an official statement that the nationwide departure stop has been lifted.
   • The Hill, in a report timestamped 5:27 p.m. Eastern, and NBC News, in an article updated at 5:35 p.m. Eastern, reported further remarks from Secretary Mullin: that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would continue seeking the root cause; that, when pressed, he said officials would not rule out a cyberattack and that "as of right now, that's not known"; and that the first priorities were restoring communications, getting flights on the ground, and then returning to normal operations. NBC also reported that Mullin said President Donald Trump had been briefed and that they were "not ruling out anything at this point" as to the cause. Mullin continued to say there was no indication yet of a nefarious attack and that everybody is safe. No official source has attributed the outage to an attack.
   • NBC News, updated at 5:35 p.m. Eastern, reported that a source with knowledge of the operation said Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) was at capacity and Chicago O'Hare (ORD) was nearing capacity, and that some flights might have to divert. NBC also cited live air-traffic audio from Newark Liberty (EWR) describing gate and space constraints. Those accounts are not FAA statements. NBC quoted United Airlines as saying new domestic flights would not depart while the FAA ground stop remained in place, and that United flights already airborne would continue.
   • At 5:46 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center issued Advisory 120, "Nationwide Ground Stop," covering all destination airports and all facilities, with an event window from 5:45 p.m. Eastern to 11 p.m. Eastern. The advisory's reason field is "COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE." It said the Command Center ground stop remains in effect, and that as en-route facilities recover, flights will be allowed to depart through coordination with the Air Traffic Control System Command Center. It said to expect the next update at 11 p.m. Eastern (0400 Zulu).
   • At the same time, the Command Center issued a new operations plan, Advisory 119, effective 6 p.m. Eastern and later. It said traffic will be released from the nationwide ground stop as conditions allow, and that the current strategy will be a tiered approach for releasing more traffic as limitations are reduced and volume can be increased. The plan lists the nationwide ground stop as a terminal-active program until 11 p.m. Eastern. The next planning webinar was listed at 7:15 p.m. Eastern (0015 Zulu). Neither advisory named which en-route facilities or airports would be released first.
   • As of 6:26 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 6:26 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports, identified as Advisory 120. The listing still showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern), a probable-end field of "MED," and a reason of "EQUIPMENT / OUTAGE." No newer nationwide-stop advisory had been issued after Advisory 120; Advisories 121 and 122 covered an unrelated airspace-restriction cancellation and a volcanic-activity bulletin. The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 6:26 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. The only formal ground stop on that public list was Montreal-Trudeau (YUL), scheduled to end at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, with the reason given as "other." A Toronto Pearson (YYZ) ground-stop listing that had been scheduled to end at 6:15 p.m. Eastern was no longer on the public list. As of about 6:28 p.m. Eastern, neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post and the FAA's 5:02 p.m. Eastern post remained their latest official comments on X.
   • As of 6:26 p.m. Eastern, residual departure delays coded to the FAA equipment outage were listed on the Command Center delay board at Chicago O'Hare (ORD), a 3-hour departure delay with a 6:10 p.m. Eastern time stamp; Newark (EWR), 2 hours and 45 minutes with a 6:20 p.m. Eastern time stamp; and Houston Intercontinental (IAH), 2 hours and 30 minutes with a 6:13 p.m. Eastern time stamp, coded as a traffic-management stop tied to the equipment outage. Those airports were not on the public airport-status delay list at the same check. The public delay listings have been inconsistent throughout the evening; a missing line is not confirmation that delays have cleared. Separate weather and volume programs remained in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes. The public status feed also listed Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) as closed to diversion aircraft due to capacity from 6:23 p.m. Eastern until 4 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 14.
   • As of about 6:26 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 10,543 delayed and 2,595 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 26,281 delayed and 3,249 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect. At 5:45 p.m. Eastern, the same FlightAware board had listed 10,343 delayed and 1,338 cancelled U.S. flights.

   Not claimed at that time:

   • The precise technical cause of the communications failure, beyond the FAA's temporary telecommunications outage description and the Command Center's communications-failure and equipment-outage listings, is not stated in the sources reviewed. Secretary Mullin said officials were still investigating the root cause and had not ruled possibilities in or out.
   • Whether the nationwide ground stop has been formally lifted is not confirmed. Advisory 120 says it remains in effect, with a staged release as en-route facilities recover. The 11 p.m. Eastern time in the advisories is the listed window and expected update time, not a confirmed lift time. Officials have not named which facilities will be released first, or whether any have already been released.
   • How long residual delays will last, and how many of today's delayed or cancelled flights are solely the result of the nationwide stop, is not stated. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) was listed as closed to diversion aircraft due to capacity beginning at 6:23 p.m. Eastern; whether other airports have similar capacity limits, or how many flights have diverted, has not been confirmed in a broader FAA statement.

   • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement
   • FAA National Airspace System status
   • Axios — FAA issues nationwide ground stop due to extraordinary circumstances
   • CNBC — FAA issues nationwide ground stop
   • NBC News — Ground stop ordered for all airports nationwide for reasons of safety
   • Associated Press — Flights halted at airports across US
   • FLYING — FAA Orders National Ground Stop
   • BBC News — US officials ground flights nationwide due to air traffic control communication issue
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary
   • FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today
   • Reuters — US grounds flights nationwide after air traffic control communications outage
   • FAA official X account — temporary telecommunications outage
   • Fox News — FAA issues nationwide ground stop, cites communications issues
   • Associated Press — Live updates: FAA grounds all flights nationwide due to communications problems
   • Flightradar24 — international departures on a case-by-case basis
   • Homeland Security official X account — Mullin White House remarks
   • The Hill — Mullin: no indication of nefarious attack as DHS investigates telecom outage
   • FAA Command Center Advisory 120 — Nationwide Ground Stop
   • FAA Command Center Advisory 119 — Operations Plan
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary — Official Command Center status board checked at 6:47 p.m. Eastern, last updated at 6:47 p.m. Eastern (23:47:23 GMT). Listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports as Advisory 120, reason equipment outage, update time 0400 Zulu, probable end MED. Residual delays: Newark (EWR) 3 hours, time stamp 6:35 p.m. Eastern, coded as FAA equipment; Houston Intercontinental (IAH) 2 hours 45 minutes, time stamp 6:28 p.m. Eastern, coded as a traffic-management stop tied to the equipment outage. Chicago O'Hare (ORD) was not listed. Next planning webinar still listed at 7:15 p.m. Eastern (0015 Zulu). No newer nationwide-stop advisory after Advisory 120.
   • FAA National Airspace System status — Official FAA public airport-status feed and status API, rechecked at 6:47 p.m. Eastern (API last updated at 6:47 p.m. Eastern). Did not list a nationwide ground stop. Residual departure delays: Newark (EWR), about 3 hours 1 minute to 3 hours 15 minutes, increasing, coded as FAA equipment; Houston Intercontinental (IAH), about 2 hours 46 minutes to 3 hours, increasing, coded as a traffic-management stop tied to the equipment outage. Also used for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) diversion-capacity restriction beginning 6:23 p.m. Eastern.
   • FAA Command Center Advisory 120 — Nationwide Ground Stop — Official Air Traffic Control System Command Center advisory sent at 5:46 p.m. Eastern (22:46 Zulu). Rechecked at 6:47 p.m. Eastern; it remained the current nationwide-stop advisory, and no newer nationwide-stop advisory had been issued.
   • FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today — Daily totals checked at about 6:47 p.m. Eastern. These counts include all causes, not only the nationwide ground stop. U.S. totals: 10,243 delayed and 3,328 cancelled. Worldwide totals: 26,097 delayed and 3,987 cancelled.
2. # Nov 13, 2026, 6:27:57 PM EST · fact update

   Changed: current account, known facts. At 5:46 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center reissued the nationwide ground stop as Advisory 120, citing a communications failure, and said the stop remains in effect. Traffic will be released in stages as en-route facilities recover, the accompanying operations plan said. As of 6:26 p.m. Eastern, the Command Center status summary still listed the nationwide stop as Advisory 120. FlightAware listed 10,543 delayed and 2,595 cancelled U.S. flights. No official lift statement had been issued.

   Account before this update

   FAA ordered departures halted nationwide around 4 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 13 after a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA said a temporary telecommunications outage had led it to halt flights out of an abundance of caution, and that every flight had been accounted for. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, speaking at the White House beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern, also described a telecommunications outage, said there was no indication of a threat or attack, and said officials had not given a timeframe for restoring communications. In official Homeland Security posts at 5:24, 5:42, and 5:43 p.m. Eastern, Mullin said President Donald Trump had taken a lead immediately, that everybody is safe, and that officials intended to get airborne flights on the ground. As of 5:45 p.m. Eastern, the Command Center status summary still listed a nationwide ground stop for an equipment outage, while the public airport-status feed did not. Residual Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) equipment-related departure delays remained at Newark (EWR) and Chicago O'Hare (ORD). No official lift statement had been issued. Airborne flights continued.

   • Around 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, the FAA Command Center ordered a nationwide ground stop for departing flights "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." The advisory said all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice, and that inbound international flights would be managed on a case-by-case basis. Aircraft already airborne continued.
   • At 4:16 p.m. Eastern, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA issued the nationwide ground stop "following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) are the FAA facilities that handle high-altitude en-route traffic. Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating and that updates would follow.
   • Axios reported an FAA statement that similarly attributed the stop to communication issues impacting multiple ARTCCs.
   • As of 4:32 p.m. Eastern, the nationwide Command Center alert was no longer posted on the FAA's current operations advisory page. The National Airspace System status feed, last updated at 4:28 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. It showed formal ground stops only at Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) for an equipment outage, scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, plus equipment-related departure delays at Newark (EWR), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), Orlando (MCO), Phoenix (PHX), Las Vegas (LAS) and Teterboro (TEB).
   • A previous nationwide departure halt occurred on Jan. 11, 2023, after a failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts crews to hazards such as runway closures and equipment outages.
   • As of 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop or any formal airport-level ground stops. The Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) ground stops that had been scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern were no longer posted. Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post remained his latest comment.
   • At 4:58 p.m. Eastern, the public airport-status list still showed departure delays coded to the national stop or FAA equipment at several hubs, including Atlanta (ATL, 45 minutes), Newark (EWR, 75 minutes), Fort Lauderdale (FLL, 60 minutes), Houston Intercontinental (IAH, 60 minutes on that list), Miami (MIA, 45 minutes), Chicago O'Hare (ORD, 90 minutes), Las Vegas (LAS, 15 minutes), and Teterboro (TEB, 90 minutes). Those delay lines were no longer on the public list by 5:03 p.m. Eastern. A Command Center summary checked at 5:00 p.m. Eastern had still listed residual departure delays of about 45 to 90 minutes at those airports. By 5:03 p.m. Eastern, that summary no longer listed those delays and instead showed a 75-minute departure delay at New York Kennedy (JFK) coded as FAA equipment.
   • As of about 5:03 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 9,086 delayed and 446 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 24,313 delayed and 1,040 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes. Reuters, updated at 4:50 p.m. Eastern, said FlightAware reported nearly 7,000 flights delayed or cancelled because of the nationwide ground stop.
   • CNBC reported that an internal Alaska Airlines message, seen by CNBC, described the disruption as related to communications and radar issues. United Airlines said airborne flights would continue. The FAA and Secretary Duffy have not given a more specific official cause than a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
   • At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA's official X account said there had been a temporary telecommunications outage and that, "out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted." The agency said every flight had been accounted for and that international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis. It did not say the nationwide ground stop had been lifted. Earlier official accounts, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the Command Center advisory, said aircraft already airborne would continue; that guidance has not been withdrawn.
   • Beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House that the disruption was a telecommunications outage, that every flight had been accounted for, and that there was no indication of an attack or a threat to the public. BBC, CNBC, Axios, and Fox News reported the remarks. Mullin said officials had not discussed a timeframe and that restoring communications would "take some time." He also said there was no reason to connect the outage to a separate Microsoft outage. Fox News reported that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had spoken with President Donald Trump about the disruption. Neither Mullin nor the FAA said the nationwide ground stop had been lifted.
   • As of 5:33 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:33 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing still showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:32 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. Formal ground stops on that public list were at Montreal-Trudeau (YUL), scheduled to end at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and Toronto Pearson (YYZ), scheduled to end at 6:15 p.m. Eastern, both with the reason given as "other." Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post and the FAA's 5:02 p.m. Eastern post remained their latest official comments on X.
   • By about 5:33 p.m. Eastern, departure delays coded to the national stop or to FAA equipment were again listed on the Command Center summary and the public airport-status list at several hubs: Atlanta (ATL), about 2 hours and increasing, coded as a national stop; Newark (EWR), about 1 hour 45 minutes and increasing, coded as FAA equipment; Houston Intercontinental (IAH), about 1 hour 45 minutes and increasing, coded to traffic-management initiatives and an equipment stop; New York Kennedy (JFK), about 1 hour 45 minutes and decreasing, coded as equipment; Chicago O'Hare (ORD), about 2 hours 15 minutes and increasing, coded as FAA equipment; and Teterboro (TEB), about 2 hours and increasing, coded as FAA equipment. Separate weather and volume programs remained in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes.
   • As of about 5:33 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 9,917 delayed and 988 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 25,264 delayed and 1,604 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect. At 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the same FlightAware board had listed 9,086 delayed and 446 cancelled U.S. flights.
   • CNBC reported that flight-data firm Cirium said 11,000 flights were scheduled to depart U.S. airports after 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
   • At 5:05 p.m. Eastern, Flightradar24 said some international flights were being allowed to depart on a case-by-case basis, and that Etihad's Boston–Abu Dhabi flight had departed about 20 minutes earlier. That is consistent with the Command Center advisory's language on international flights; it is not an official statement that the nationwide departure stop has been lifted.
   • As of 5:45 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:45 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing still showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:44 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. Formal ground stops on that public list remained at Montreal-Trudeau (YUL), scheduled to end at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and Toronto Pearson (YYZ), scheduled to end at 6:15 p.m. Eastern, both with the reason given as "other." Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post and the FAA's 5:02 p.m. Eastern post remained their latest official comments on X.
   • By 5:45 p.m. Eastern, Atlanta (ATL), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), New York Kennedy (JFK), and Teterboro (TEB) were no longer listed on the Command Center delay board or the public airport-status list. Residual departure delays coded as FAA equipment remained at Newark (EWR), about 2 hours and increasing as of a 5:35 p.m. Eastern update, and Chicago O'Hare (ORD), about 2 hours and 30 minutes and increasing as of a 5:42 p.m. Eastern update. Separate weather and volume programs remained in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes.
   • As of about 5:45 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 10,343 delayed and 1,338 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 25,848 delayed and 1,967 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect. At 5:33 p.m. Eastern, the same FlightAware board had listed 9,917 delayed and 988 cancelled U.S. flights.
   • The official Homeland Security X account posted additional clips of Secretary Mullin's White House remarks. At 5:24 p.m. Eastern it quoted him saying every agency with an asset involved was working together and that "The President took a lead in this immediately and he gave us the assets and the communication to move forward in a fast way." At 5:42 p.m. Eastern it quoted him saying there was no reason to be concerned about loved ones who were flying. At 5:43 p.m. Eastern it quoted him saying officials were assured that everybody is safe and that "everyone in the air that's currently on the plane...we're going to get you on the ground." Secretary Mullin's official account reposted those items. That language concerns landing airborne flights safely; it is not an official statement that the nationwide departure stop has been lifted.
   • The Hill, in a report timestamped 5:27 p.m. Eastern, and NBC News, in an article updated at 5:35 p.m. Eastern, reported further remarks from Secretary Mullin: that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would continue seeking the root cause; that, when pressed, he said officials would not rule out a cyberattack and that "as of right now, that's not known"; and that the first priorities were restoring communications, getting flights on the ground, and then returning to normal operations. NBC also reported that Mullin said President Donald Trump had been briefed and that they were "not ruling out anything at this point" as to the cause. Mullin continued to say there was no indication yet of a nefarious attack and that everybody is safe. No official source has attributed the outage to an attack.
   • NBC News, updated at 5:35 p.m. Eastern, reported that a source with knowledge of the operation said Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) was at capacity and Chicago O'Hare (ORD) was nearing capacity, and that some flights might have to divert. NBC also cited live air-traffic audio from Newark Liberty (EWR) describing gate and space constraints. Those accounts are not FAA statements. NBC quoted United Airlines as saying new domestic flights would not depart while the FAA ground stop remained in place, and that United flights already airborne would continue.

   Not claimed at that time:

   • The precise technical cause of the temporary telecommunications outage, beyond the FAA's description and the Command Center's equipment-outage listing, is not stated in the sources reviewed. Secretary Mullin said officials were still investigating the root cause and had not ruled possibilities in or out.
   • Whether the nationwide ground stop has been formally lifted is not confirmed by an FAA or Transportation Department statement. The Command Center summary still listed it as of 5:45 p.m. Eastern; the public airport-status list did not. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin did not give a timeframe for restoring communications.
   • How long residual delays will last, and how many of today's delayed or cancelled flights are solely the result of the nationwide stop, is not stated. Whether airport capacity constraints will lead to diversions has not been confirmed by the FAA.

   • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement
   • FAA National Airspace System status
   • Axios — FAA issues nationwide ground stop due to extraordinary circumstances
   • CNBC — FAA issues nationwide ground stop
   • NBC News — Ground stop ordered for all airports nationwide for reasons of safety
   • Associated Press — Flights halted at airports across US
   • FLYING — FAA Orders National Ground Stop
   • BBC News — US officials ground flights nationwide due to air traffic control communication issue
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary
   • FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today
   • Reuters — US grounds flights nationwide after air traffic control communications outage
   • FAA official X account — temporary telecommunications outage
   • Fox News — FAA issues nationwide ground stop, cites communications issues
   • Associated Press — Live updates: FAA grounds all flights nationwide due to communications problems
   • Flightradar24 — international departures on a case-by-case basis
   • Homeland Security official X account — Mullin White House remarks
   • The Hill — Mullin: no indication of nefarious attack as DHS investigates telecom outage
   • FAA Command Center Advisory 120 — Nationwide Ground Stop — Official Air Traffic Control System Command Center advisory sent at 5:46 p.m. Eastern (22:46 Zulu). Reason field: communications failure. The advisory said the nationwide ground stop remains in effect, and that as en-route facilities recover, flights will be allowed to depart through coordination with the Command Center. Next update expected at 11 p.m. Eastern (0400 Zulu).
   • FAA Command Center Advisory 119 — Operations Plan — Official Command Center operations plan sent at 5:46 p.m. Eastern, effective 6 p.m. Eastern and later. It said traffic will be released from the nationwide ground stop as conditions allow, in a tiered approach as limitations are reduced and volume can be increased. It lists the nationwide ground stop as active until 11 p.m. Eastern.
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary — Official Command Center status board checked at 6:26 p.m. Eastern, last updated at 6:26 p.m. Eastern. Listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports as Advisory 120, reason equipment outage, update time 0400 Zulu, probable end MED. Residual delays: Chicago O'Hare (ORD) 3 hours, time stamp 6:10 p.m. Eastern; Newark (EWR) 2 hours 45 minutes, time stamp 6:20 p.m. Eastern; Houston Intercontinental (IAH) 2 hours 30 minutes, time stamp 6:13 p.m. Eastern.
   • FAA National Airspace System status — Official FAA public airport-status feed and status API, rechecked at 6:26 p.m. Eastern (API last updated at 6:26 p.m. Eastern). Used for formal ground-stop and delay listings, which can differ from the Command Center summary board, and for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) diversion-capacity restriction beginning 6:23 p.m. Eastern.
   • FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today — Daily totals checked at about 6:26 p.m. Eastern. These counts include all causes, not only the nationwide ground stop.
3. # Nov 13, 2026, 5:47:52 PM EST · fact update

   Changed: current account, known facts. As of 5:45 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center status summary still listed a nationwide ground stop for an equipment outage, while residual FAA-equipment departure delays on that board and the public feed had narrowed to Newark (EWR) and Chicago O'Hare (ORD). FlightAware listed 10,343 delayed and 1,338 cancelled U.S. flights. Official Homeland Security posts quoted Secretary Mullin saying everybody is safe and that airborne flights would be brought on the ground. No official lift statement had been issued.

   Account before this update

   FAA ordered departures halted nationwide around 4 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 13 after a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA said a temporary telecommunications outage had led it to halt flights out of an abundance of caution, and that every flight had been accounted for. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, speaking at the White House beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern, also described a telecommunications outage, said there was no indication of a threat or attack, and said officials had not given a timeframe for restoring communications. As of 5:33 p.m. Eastern, the Command Center status summary still listed a nationwide ground stop for an equipment outage, while the public airport-status feed did not. No official lift statement had been issued. Airborne flights continued.

   • Around 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, the FAA Command Center ordered a nationwide ground stop for departing flights "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." The advisory said all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice, and that inbound international flights would be managed on a case-by-case basis. Aircraft already airborne continued.
   • At 4:16 p.m. Eastern, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA issued the nationwide ground stop "following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) are the FAA facilities that handle high-altitude en-route traffic. Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating and that updates would follow.
   • Axios reported an FAA statement that similarly attributed the stop to communication issues impacting multiple ARTCCs.
   • As of 4:32 p.m. Eastern, the nationwide Command Center alert was no longer posted on the FAA's current operations advisory page. The National Airspace System status feed, last updated at 4:28 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. It showed formal ground stops only at Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) for an equipment outage, scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, plus equipment-related departure delays at Newark (EWR), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), Orlando (MCO), Phoenix (PHX), Las Vegas (LAS) and Teterboro (TEB).
   • A previous nationwide departure halt occurred on Jan. 11, 2023, after a failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts crews to hazards such as runway closures and equipment outages.
   • As of 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop or any formal airport-level ground stops. The Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) ground stops that had been scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern were no longer posted. Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post remained his latest comment.
   • At 4:58 p.m. Eastern, the public airport-status list still showed departure delays coded to the national stop or FAA equipment at several hubs, including Atlanta (ATL, 45 minutes), Newark (EWR, 75 minutes), Fort Lauderdale (FLL, 60 minutes), Houston Intercontinental (IAH, 60 minutes on that list), Miami (MIA, 45 minutes), Chicago O'Hare (ORD, 90 minutes), Las Vegas (LAS, 15 minutes), and Teterboro (TEB, 90 minutes). Those delay lines were no longer on the public list by 5:03 p.m. Eastern. A Command Center summary checked at 5:00 p.m. Eastern had still listed residual departure delays of about 45 to 90 minutes at those airports. By 5:03 p.m. Eastern, that summary no longer listed those delays and instead showed a 75-minute departure delay at New York Kennedy (JFK) coded as FAA equipment.
   • As of about 5:03 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 9,086 delayed and 446 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 24,313 delayed and 1,040 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes. Reuters, updated at 4:50 p.m. Eastern, said FlightAware reported nearly 7,000 flights delayed or cancelled because of the nationwide ground stop.
   • CNBC reported that an internal Alaska Airlines message, seen by CNBC, described the disruption as related to communications and radar issues. United Airlines said airborne flights would continue. The FAA and Secretary Duffy have not given a more specific official cause than a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
   • At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA's official X account said there had been a temporary telecommunications outage and that, "out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted." The agency said every flight had been accounted for and that international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis. It did not say the nationwide ground stop had been lifted. Earlier official accounts, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the Command Center advisory, said aircraft already airborne would continue; that guidance has not been withdrawn.
   • Beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House that the disruption was a telecommunications outage, that every flight had been accounted for, and that there was no indication of an attack or a threat to the public. BBC, CNBC, Axios, and Fox News reported the remarks. Mullin said officials had not discussed a timeframe and that restoring communications would "take some time." He also said there was no reason to connect the outage to a separate Microsoft outage. Fox News reported that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had spoken with President Donald Trump about the disruption. Neither Mullin nor the FAA said the nationwide ground stop had been lifted.
   • As of 5:33 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:33 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing still showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:32 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. Formal ground stops on that public list were at Montreal-Trudeau (YUL), scheduled to end at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and Toronto Pearson (YYZ), scheduled to end at 6:15 p.m. Eastern, both with the reason given as "other." Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post and the FAA's 5:02 p.m. Eastern post remained their latest official comments on X.
   • By about 5:33 p.m. Eastern, departure delays coded to the national stop or to FAA equipment were again listed on the Command Center summary and the public airport-status list at several hubs: Atlanta (ATL), about 2 hours and increasing, coded as a national stop; Newark (EWR), about 1 hour 45 minutes and increasing, coded as FAA equipment; Houston Intercontinental (IAH), about 1 hour 45 minutes and increasing, coded to traffic-management initiatives and an equipment stop; New York Kennedy (JFK), about 1 hour 45 minutes and decreasing, coded as equipment; Chicago O'Hare (ORD), about 2 hours 15 minutes and increasing, coded as FAA equipment; and Teterboro (TEB), about 2 hours and increasing, coded as FAA equipment. Separate weather and volume programs remained in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes.
   • As of about 5:33 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 9,917 delayed and 988 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 25,264 delayed and 1,604 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect. At 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the same FlightAware board had listed 9,086 delayed and 446 cancelled U.S. flights.
   • CNBC reported that flight-data firm Cirium said 11,000 flights were scheduled to depart U.S. airports after 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
   • At 5:05 p.m. Eastern, Flightradar24 said some international flights were being allowed to depart on a case-by-case basis, and that Etihad's Boston–Abu Dhabi flight had departed about 20 minutes earlier. That is consistent with the Command Center advisory's language on international flights; it is not an official statement that the nationwide departure stop has been lifted.

   Not claimed at that time:

   • The precise technical cause of the temporary telecommunications outage, beyond the FAA's description and the Command Center's equipment-outage listing, is not stated in the sources reviewed.
   • Whether the nationwide ground stop has been formally lifted is not confirmed by an FAA or Transportation Department statement. The Command Center summary still listed it as of 5:33 p.m. Eastern; the public airport-status list did not. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin did not give a timeframe for restoring communications.
   • How long residual delays will last, and how many of today's delayed or cancelled flights are solely the result of the nationwide stop, is not stated.

   • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement
   • FAA National Airspace System status
   • Axios — FAA issues nationwide ground stop due to extraordinary circumstances
   • CNBC — FAA issues nationwide ground stop
   • NBC News — Ground stop ordered for all airports nationwide for reasons of safety
   • Associated Press — Flights halted at airports across US
   • FLYING — FAA Orders National Ground Stop
   • BBC News — US officials ground flights nationwide due to air traffic control communication issue
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary
   • FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today
   • Reuters — US grounds flights nationwide after air traffic control communications outage
   • FAA official X account — temporary telecommunications outage
   • Fox News — FAA issues nationwide ground stop, cites communications issues
   • Associated Press — Live updates: FAA grounds all flights nationwide due to communications problems
   • Flightradar24 — international departures on a case-by-case basis
   • FAA National Airspace System status — Official FAA public airport-status feed and status API, rechecked at 5:45 p.m. Eastern (page and API last updated at 5:44 p.m. Eastern). Used for formal ground-stop and delay listings, which can differ from the Command Center summary board.
   • NBC News — Ground stop ordered for all airports nationwide for reasons of safety — National press account quoting the advisory and Secretary Duffy. An update at 5:35 p.m. Eastern reported additional remarks from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, including that President Donald Trump had been briefed and that officials were not ruling anything out as to the cause; quoted United Airlines as saying new domestic flights would not depart while the ground stop remained; and reported a source saying Reagan Washington National (DCA) was at capacity and Chicago O'Hare (ORD) was nearing capacity.
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary — Official Command Center status board checked at 5:45 p.m. Eastern, last updated at 5:45 p.m. Eastern. Used for the nationwide ground-stop listing and residual delay codes.
   • FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today — Daily totals checked at 5:45 p.m. Eastern. These counts include all causes, not only the nationwide ground stop.
   • Homeland Security official X account — Mullin White House remarks — Official @DHSgov posts of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's remarks: 5:24 p.m. Eastern, agencies working together and the president took a lead immediately (https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2121368635717632383); 5:42 p.m. Eastern, no reason for concern about loved ones flying (https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2121373046095397222); and 5:43 p.m. Eastern, everybody is safe and airborne flights would be brought on the ground (https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2121373488007241756). Secretary Mullin's official account reposted the items.
   • The Hill — Mullin: no indication of nefarious attack as DHS investigates telecom outage — Report timestamped 5:27 p.m. Eastern quoting Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin describing a telecommunications outage throughout the FAA, saying there was no indication yet of a nefarious attack, and, when pressed, saying officials would not rule out a cyberattack and that the root cause was not yet known. He said the first priorities were restoring communications, getting flights on the ground, and then returning to normal operations.
4. # Nov 13, 2026, 5:33:09 PM EST · fact update

   Changed: current account, known facts. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern that the halt was a telecommunications outage, with no indication of a threat and no timeframe yet. As of 5:33 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center status summary still listed a nationwide ground stop for an equipment outage, and no official lift statement had been issued. FlightAware listed 9,917 delayed and 988 cancelled U.S. flights.

   Account before this update

   FAA ordered departures halted nationwide around 4 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 13 after a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA said a temporary telecommunications outage had led it to halt flights out of an abundance of caution, and that every flight had been accounted for. As of 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the Command Center status summary still listed a nationwide ground stop for an equipment outage, while the public airport-status feed no longer showed formal ground stops. Airborne flights continued.

   • Around 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, the FAA Command Center ordered a nationwide ground stop for departing flights "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." The advisory said all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice, and that inbound international flights would be managed on a case-by-case basis. Aircraft already airborne continued.
   • At 4:16 p.m. Eastern, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA issued the nationwide ground stop "following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) are the FAA facilities that handle high-altitude en-route traffic. Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating and that updates would follow.
   • Axios reported an FAA statement that similarly attributed the stop to communication issues impacting multiple ARTCCs.
   • As of 4:32 p.m. Eastern, the nationwide Command Center alert was no longer posted on the FAA's current operations advisory page. The National Airspace System status feed, last updated at 4:28 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. It showed formal ground stops only at Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) for an equipment outage, scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, plus equipment-related departure delays at Newark (EWR), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), Orlando (MCO), Phoenix (PHX), Las Vegas (LAS) and Teterboro (TEB).
   • A previous nationwide departure halt occurred on Jan. 11, 2023, after a failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts crews to hazards such as runway closures and equipment outages.
   • As of 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop or any formal airport-level ground stops. The Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) ground stops that had been scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern were no longer posted. Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post remained his latest comment.
   • At 4:58 p.m. Eastern, the public airport-status list still showed departure delays coded to the national stop or FAA equipment at several hubs, including Atlanta (ATL, 45 minutes), Newark (EWR, 75 minutes), Fort Lauderdale (FLL, 60 minutes), Houston Intercontinental (IAH, 60 minutes on that list), Miami (MIA, 45 minutes), Chicago O'Hare (ORD, 90 minutes), Las Vegas (LAS, 15 minutes), and Teterboro (TEB, 90 minutes). Those delay lines were no longer on the public list by 5:03 p.m. Eastern. A Command Center summary checked at 5:00 p.m. Eastern had still listed residual departure delays of about 45 to 90 minutes at those airports. By 5:03 p.m. Eastern, that summary no longer listed those delays and instead showed a 75-minute departure delay at New York Kennedy (JFK) coded as FAA equipment.
   • As of about 5:03 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 9,086 delayed and 446 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 24,313 delayed and 1,040 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes. Reuters, updated at 4:50 p.m. Eastern, said FlightAware reported nearly 7,000 flights delayed or cancelled because of the nationwide ground stop.
   • CNBC reported that an internal Alaska Airlines message, seen by CNBC, described the disruption as related to communications and radar issues. United Airlines said airborne flights would continue. The FAA and Secretary Duffy have not given a more specific official cause than a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
   • At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA's official X account said there had been a temporary telecommunications outage and that, "out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted." The agency said every flight had been accounted for and that international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis. It did not say the nationwide ground stop had been lifted. Earlier official accounts, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the Command Center advisory, said aircraft already airborne would continue; that guidance has not been withdrawn.

   Not claimed at that time:

   • The precise technical cause of the temporary telecommunications outage, beyond the FAA's description and the Command Center's equipment-outage listing, is not stated in the sources reviewed.
   • Whether the nationwide ground stop has been formally lifted is not confirmed by an FAA or Transportation Department statement. The Command Center summary still listed it as of 5:03 p.m. Eastern; the public airport-status list did not.
   • How long residual delays will last, and how many of today's delayed or cancelled flights are solely the result of the nationwide stop, is not stated.

   • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement
   • FAA National Airspace System status
   • Axios — FAA issues nationwide ground stop due to extraordinary circumstances
   • CNBC — FAA issues nationwide ground stop
   • NBC News — Ground stop ordered for all airports nationwide for reasons of safety
   • Associated Press — Flights halted at airports across US
   • FLYING — FAA Orders National Ground Stop
   • BBC News — US officials ground flights nationwide due to air traffic control communication issue
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary
   • FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today
   • Reuters — US grounds flights nationwide after air traffic control communications outage
   • FAA official X account — temporary telecommunications outage
   • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement — Official statement on X at 4:16 p.m. Eastern: a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
   • FAA National Airspace System status — Official FAA public airport-status feed and status API, rechecked at 5:33 p.m. Eastern (feed last updated at 5:32 p.m. Eastern). Used for formal ground-stop and delay listings, which can differ from the Command Center summary board.
   • Axios — FAA issues nationwide ground stop due to extraordinary circumstances — Reports an FAA statement attributing the stop to communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), and quotes the Command Center advisory. A later update quoted Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin telling reporters at the White House that there was no indication of a nefarious attack.
   • CNBC — FAA issues nationwide ground stop — National press account of the Command Center order. Later updates reported an internal Alaska Airlines message, seen by CNBC, describing communications and radar issues; quoted United Airlines saying airborne flights would continue; reported Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's White House remarks that there was no indication the issues were a threat; and cited Cirium as saying 11,000 flights were scheduled to depart U.S. airports after 4 p.m. Eastern.
   • BBC News — US officials ground flights nationwide due to air traffic control communication issue — Live coverage of the nationwide stop and of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's White House remarks beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern, including that the disruption was a telecommunications outage, that there was no indication of an attack, that officials had not given a timeframe, and that there was no reason to connect the outage to a separate Microsoft outage.
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary — Official Command Center status board checked at 5:33 p.m. Eastern, last updated at 5:33 p.m. Eastern. Used for the nationwide ground-stop listing and residual delay codes.
   • FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today — Daily totals checked at 5:33 p.m. Eastern. These counts include all causes, not only the nationwide ground stop.
   • FAA official X account — temporary telecommunications outage — Official @FAANews post at 5:02 p.m. Eastern: a temporary telecommunications outage; out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted; every flight accounted for; international flights handled case by case.
   • Fox News — FAA issues nationwide ground stop, cites communications issues — Live coverage quoting Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin describing a telecommunications outage, saying it was not a threat to the public, and reporting that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had spoken with President Donald Trump about the disruption.
   • Associated Press — Live updates: FAA grounds all flights nationwide due to communications problems — AP live file on the nationwide order and communications problems at regional air traffic control centers.
   • Flightradar24 — international departures on a case-by-case basis — Official Flightradar24 account post at 5:05 p.m. Eastern: some international flights were being allowed to depart on a case-by-case basis; Etihad's Boston–Abu Dhabi flight had departed about 20 minutes earlier.
5. # Nov 13, 2026, 5:06:35 PM EST · fact update

   Changed: current account, known facts. At 5:02 p.m. Eastern, the FAA's official X account said a temporary telecommunications outage had led it, out of an abundance of caution, to halt flights, and that every flight had been accounted for. The 5:03 p.m. Eastern card had said the FAA official account had not posted about the stop.

   Account before this update

   FAA ordered departures halted nationwide around 4 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 13 after a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. As of 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the Command Center status summary still listed a nationwide ground stop for an equipment outage, while the public airport-status feed no longer showed formal ground stops. Airborne flights continued.

   • Around 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, the FAA Command Center ordered a nationwide ground stop for departing flights "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." The advisory said all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice, and that inbound international flights would be managed on a case-by-case basis. Aircraft already airborne continued.
   • At 4:16 p.m. Eastern, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA issued the nationwide ground stop "following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) are the FAA facilities that handle high-altitude en-route traffic. Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating and that updates would follow.
   • Axios reported an FAA statement that similarly attributed the stop to communication issues impacting multiple ARTCCs.
   • As of 4:32 p.m. Eastern, the nationwide Command Center alert was no longer posted on the FAA's current operations advisory page. The National Airspace System status feed, last updated at 4:28 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. It showed formal ground stops only at Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) for an equipment outage, scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, plus equipment-related departure delays at Newark (EWR), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), Orlando (MCO), Phoenix (PHX), Las Vegas (LAS) and Teterboro (TEB).
   • A previous nationwide departure halt occurred on Jan. 11, 2023, after a failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts crews to hazards such as runway closures and equipment outages.
   • As of 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center's public status summary, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, still listed a nationwide ground stop at all airports for an equipment outage, identified as Advisory 111. The listing showed an update time of 0400 Zulu (11 p.m. Eastern) and a probable-end field of "MED." The FAA's public airport-status list and status API, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop or any formal airport-level ground stops. The Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) ground stops that had been scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern were no longer posted. Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had issued a later statement saying the nationwide stop had been lifted. Secretary Duffy's 4:16 p.m. Eastern post remained his latest comment, and the FAA's official X account had not posted about the stop.
   • At 4:58 p.m. Eastern, the public airport-status list still showed departure delays coded to the national stop or FAA equipment at several hubs, including Atlanta (ATL, 45 minutes), Newark (EWR, 75 minutes), Fort Lauderdale (FLL, 60 minutes), Houston Intercontinental (IAH, 60 minutes on that list), Miami (MIA, 45 minutes), Chicago O'Hare (ORD, 90 minutes), Las Vegas (LAS, 15 minutes), and Teterboro (TEB, 90 minutes). Those delay lines were no longer on the public list by 5:03 p.m. Eastern. A Command Center summary checked at 5:00 p.m. Eastern had still listed residual departure delays of about 45 to 90 minutes at those airports. By 5:03 p.m. Eastern, that summary no longer listed those delays and instead showed a 75-minute departure delay at New York Kennedy (JFK) coded as FAA equipment.
   • As of about 5:03 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware listed 9,086 delayed and 446 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States today, and 24,313 delayed and 1,040 cancelled flights worldwide. Those are daily totals and also include delays from weather and volume programs already in effect, including a wind-related ground-delay program at San Francisco (SFO) averaging about 2 hours and 18 minutes. Reuters, updated at 4:50 p.m. Eastern, said FlightAware reported nearly 7,000 flights delayed or cancelled because of the nationwide ground stop.
   • CNBC reported that an internal Alaska Airlines message, seen by CNBC, described the disruption as related to communications and radar issues. United Airlines said airborne flights would continue. The FAA and Secretary Duffy have not given a more specific official cause than a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).

   Not claimed at that time:

   • The precise technical cause of the communication issue and equipment outage is not stated in the sources reviewed.
   • Whether the nationwide ground stop has been formally lifted is not confirmed by an FAA or Transportation Department statement. The Command Center summary still listed it; the public airport-status list did not.
   • How long residual delays will last, and how many of today's delayed or cancelled flights are solely the result of the nationwide stop, is not stated.
   • FAA official X account — temporary telecommunications outage — Official @FAANews post at 5:02 p.m. Eastern: a temporary telecommunications outage; out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted; every flight accounted for; international flights handled case by case.
   • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement — Official statement on X at 4:16 p.m. Eastern: a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
   • FAA National Airspace System status — Official FAA public airport-status feed and status API, rechecked at 5:03 p.m. Eastern (feed last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern). Used for formal ground-stop and delay listings, which can differ from the Command Center summary board.
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary — Official Command Center status board checked at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern. Used for the nationwide ground-stop listing and residual delay codes.
6. # Nov 13, 2026, 5:03:05 PM EST · fact update

   Changed: current account, known facts. As of 5:03 p.m. Eastern, the FAA Command Center status summary still listed a nationwide ground stop for an equipment outage, while the public airport-status feed no longer showed formal ground stops. FlightAware listed 9,086 delayed and 446 cancelled U.S. flights. No official lift statement had been issued.

   Account before this update

   FAA ordered departures halted nationwide around 4 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 13 after a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. Airborne flights continued.

   • Around 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, the FAA Command Center ordered a nationwide ground stop for departing flights "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." The advisory said all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice, and that inbound international flights would be managed on a case-by-case basis. Aircraft already airborne continued.
   • At 4:16 p.m. Eastern, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA issued the nationwide ground stop "following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) are the FAA facilities that handle high-altitude en-route traffic. Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating and that updates would follow.
   • Axios reported an FAA statement that similarly attributed the stop to communication issues impacting multiple ARTCCs.
   • As of 4:32 p.m. Eastern, the nationwide Command Center alert was no longer posted on the FAA's current operations advisory page. The National Airspace System status feed, last updated at 4:28 p.m. Eastern, did not list a nationwide ground stop. It showed formal ground stops only at Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) for an equipment outage, scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, plus equipment-related departure delays at Newark (EWR), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), Orlando (MCO), Phoenix (PHX), Las Vegas (LAS) and Teterboro (TEB).
   • A previous nationwide departure halt occurred on Jan. 11, 2023, after a failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts crews to hazards such as runway closures and equipment outages.

   Not claimed at that time:

   • The precise technical cause of the communication issue is not stated in the sources reviewed.
   • Whether the nationwide ground stop has been formally lifted, and how many flights were delayed or cancelled, is not confirmed.
   • How long residual equipment-related departure delays will last is not stated.

   • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement
   • FAA National Airspace System status
   • Axios — FAA issues nationwide ground stop due to extraordinary circumstances
   • CNBC — FAA issues nationwide ground stop
   • NBC News — Ground stop ordered for all airports nationwide for reasons of safety
   • Associated Press — Flights halted at airports across US
   • FLYING — FAA Orders National Ground Stop
   • BBC News — US officials ground flights nationwide due to air traffic control communication issue
   • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement — Official statement on X at 4:16 p.m. Eastern: a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
   • FAA National Airspace System status — Official FAA public airport-status feed and status API, rechecked at 5:03 p.m. Eastern (feed last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern). Used for formal ground-stop and delay listings, which can differ from the Command Center summary board.
   • CNBC — FAA issues nationwide ground stop — National press account of the Command Center order. Later update reported an internal Alaska Airlines message, seen by CNBC, describing communications and radar issues, and quoted United Airlines saying airborne flights would continue.
   • FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary — Official Command Center status board checked at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, last updated at 5:03 p.m. Eastern. Used for the nationwide ground-stop listing and residual delay codes.
   • FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today — Daily totals checked at 5:03 p.m. Eastern. These counts include all causes, not only the nationwide ground stop.
   • Reuters — US grounds flights nationwide after air traffic control communications outage — Reuters dispatch published at 4:45 p.m. Eastern and updated at 4:50 p.m. Eastern, quoting Secretary Duffy and reporting that FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or cancelled because of the nationwide ground stop. Read via a Reuters syndicate page.
7. # Nov 13, 2026, 4:32:59 PM EST · status change

   Verification tier: new → Desk Verified. Current account and evidence recorded.

   • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement — Official statement on X at 4:16 p.m. Eastern: a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
   • FAA National Airspace System status — Official FAA airport-status feed checked at the time of writing; used for formal ground-stop and delay listings, not as the text of the nationwide order.
   • Axios — FAA issues nationwide ground stop due to extraordinary circumstances — Reports an FAA statement attributing the stop to communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), and quotes the Command Center advisory.
   • CNBC — FAA issues nationwide ground stop — National press account of the Command Center order and that inbound international flights would be managed case by case.
   • NBC News — Ground stop ordered for all airports nationwide for reasons of safety — National press account quoting the advisory and Secretary Duffy.
   • Associated Press — Flights halted at airports across US — Wire account of the nationwide order.
   • FLYING — FAA Orders National Ground Stop — Aviation trade account; notes the January 2023 Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system failure as the previous nationwide departure halt.
   • BBC News — US officials ground flights nationwide due to air traffic control communication issue — Reports that the nationwide alert later disappeared from the FAA website, and quotes Secretary Duffy.

Status history

1. Nov 13, 2026, 4:32:59 PM EST · new → Desk Verified

   Verification tier: new → Desk Verified. Current account and evidence recorded. Official FAA order, Transportation Secretary statement, and multiple independent news reports.

Sources

• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — nationwide ground stop statement — Official statement on X at 4:16 p.m. Eastern: a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
• FAA National Airspace System status — Official FAA public airport-status feed and status API, rechecked at 6:47 p.m. Eastern (API last updated at 6:47 p.m. Eastern). Used for formal ground-stop and delay listings, which can differ from the Command Center summary board, and for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) diversion-capacity restriction.
• Axios — FAA issues nationwide ground stop due to extraordinary circumstances — Reports an FAA statement attributing the stop to communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), and quotes the Command Center advisory. A later update quoted Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin telling reporters at the White House that there was no indication of a nefarious attack.
• CNBC — FAA issues nationwide ground stop — National press account of the Command Center order. Later updates reported an internal Alaska Airlines message, seen by CNBC, describing communications and radar issues; quoted United Airlines saying airborne flights would continue; reported Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's White House remarks that there was no indication the issues were a threat; and cited Cirium as saying 11,000 flights were scheduled to depart U.S. airports after 4 p.m. Eastern.
• NBC News — Ground stop ordered for all airports nationwide for reasons of safety — National press account quoting the advisory and Secretary Duffy. An update at 5:35 p.m. Eastern reported additional remarks from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, including that President Donald Trump had been briefed and that officials were not ruling anything out as to the cause; quoted United Airlines as saying new domestic flights would not depart while the ground stop remained; and reported a source saying Reagan Washington National (DCA) was at capacity and Chicago O'Hare (ORD) was nearing capacity.
• Associated Press — Flights halted at airports across US — Wire account of the nationwide order.
• FLYING — FAA Orders National Ground Stop — Aviation trade account; notes the January 2023 Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system failure as the previous nationwide departure halt.
• BBC News — US officials ground flights nationwide due to air traffic control communication issue — Live coverage of the nationwide stop and of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's White House remarks beginning around 5:03 p.m. Eastern, including that the disruption was a telecommunications outage, that there was no indication of an attack, that officials had not given a timeframe, and that there was no reason to connect the outage to a separate Microsoft outage.
• FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center — National Airspace System Status summary — Official Command Center status board checked at 6:47 p.m. Eastern, last updated at 6:47 p.m. Eastern (23:47:23 GMT). Used for the nationwide ground-stop listing, identified as Advisory 120, and residual delay codes at Newark (EWR) and Houston Intercontinental (IAH).
• FlightAware — live delay and cancellation statistics for today — Daily totals checked at about 6:47 p.m. Eastern. These counts include all causes, not only the nationwide ground stop.
• Reuters — US grounds flights nationwide after air traffic control communications outage — Reuters dispatch published at 4:45 p.m. Eastern and updated at 4:50 p.m. Eastern, quoting Secretary Duffy and reporting that FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or cancelled because of the nationwide ground stop. Read via a Reuters syndicate page.
• FAA official X account — temporary telecommunications outage — Official @FAANews post at 5:02 p.m. Eastern: a temporary telecommunications outage; out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted; every flight accounted for; international flights handled case by case.
• Fox News — FAA issues nationwide ground stop, cites communications issues — Live coverage quoting Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin describing a telecommunications outage, saying it was not a threat to the public, and reporting that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had spoken with President Donald Trump about the disruption.
• Associated Press — Live updates: FAA grounds all flights nationwide due to communications problems — AP live file on the nationwide order and communications problems at regional air traffic control centers.
• Flightradar24 — international departures on a case-by-case basis — Official Flightradar24 account post at 5:05 p.m. Eastern: some international flights were being allowed to depart on a case-by-case basis; Etihad's Boston–Abu Dhabi flight had departed about 20 minutes earlier.
• Homeland Security official X account — Mullin White House remarks — Official @DHSgov posts of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's remarks: 5:24 p.m. Eastern, agencies working together and the president took a lead immediately (https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2121368635717632383); 5:42 p.m. Eastern, no reason for concern about loved ones flying (https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2121373046095397222); and 5:43 p.m. Eastern, everybody is safe and airborne flights would be brought on the ground (https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2121373488007241756). Secretary Mullin's official account reposted the items.
• The Hill — Mullin: no indication of nefarious attack as DHS investigates telecom outage — Report timestamped 5:27 p.m. Eastern quoting Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin describing a telecommunications outage throughout the FAA, saying there was no indication yet of a nefarious attack, and, when pressed, saying officials would not rule out a cyberattack and that the root cause was not yet known. He said the first priorities were restoring communications, getting flights on the ground, and then returning to normal operations.
• FAA Command Center Advisory 120 — Nationwide Ground Stop — Official Air Traffic Control System Command Center advisory sent at 5:46 p.m. Eastern (22:46 Zulu). Reason field: communications failure. The advisory said the nationwide ground stop remains in effect, and that as en-route facilities recover, flights will be allowed to depart through coordination with the Command Center. Next update expected at 11 p.m. Eastern (0400 Zulu).
• FAA Command Center Advisory 119 — Operations Plan — Official Command Center operations plan sent at 5:46 p.m. Eastern, effective 6 p.m. Eastern and later. It said traffic will be released from the nationwide ground stop as conditions allow, in a tiered approach as limitations are reduced and volume can be increased. It lists the nationwide ground stop as active until 11 p.m. Eastern. Next planning webinar: 7:15 p.m. Eastern (0015 Zulu).

Confidence label

Labeled Desk Verified per the TurbineWire methodology. Labels move up or down as sourcing improves or collapses; material changes append under Updates rather than silently rewriting the original card.

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