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Updated Nov. 13, 2026, 4:44 p.m. ETHere’s the latest.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced a rare nationwide ground stop on Friday afternoon, in what appeared to be a major outage affecting its air traffic control system.
Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation, confirmed the outage in a social media post, citing “a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.”
“FAA technicians are investigating the issue,” he added. “We will provide immediate updates as we have them."
The agency posted an advisory stating that “all airports are ground stopped,” citing “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety” as the reasons.
“All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice,” the official advisory read, adding that the landings of inbound international flights would be managed on a case-by-case basis.
Shortly after the advisory was posted, an F.A.A. website that lists air traffic control system notices appeared to have gone down, erasing dozens of notices that previously had been listed.
The stoppage, which began shortly before 4 p.m., had the potential to affect hundreds of flights already airborne, in addition to airplanes on the ground waiting to take off.
According to FlightRadar24, an aviation tracking site, there were more than 1,000 airborne aircraft bound for U.S. airports amid the nationwide ground stop. According to the flight tracking app Flighty, there were more than 30,000 departures and arrivals scheduled for the remainder of the day.
At least some of the airborne flights appeared to be landing amid the stoppage. About half an hour after it was declared, planes could be seen landing at O’Hare International Airport.
But passengers waiting to take off were stuck in limbo.
In the Denver airport, passengers were taken off their flights with their suitcases. A handful began rebooking travel for the next day. But most waited patiently for any kind of update. A Southwest flight attendant announced that the airline expects an update in 30 minutes.
Before the advisory was published, the F.A.A. halted flights to Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports, citing equipment problems, and reported equipment-related departure delays at Newark, Las Vegas, Teterboro, Orlando, Houston and Phoenix.
Friday’s ground stop is only the third such nationwide moratorium on flights in recent history. The F.A.A. issued nationwide ground stops previously on Sept. 11, 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, and on Jan. 11, 2023, due to an outage in the F.A.A.’s system to alert pilots to safety issues.
Christine Chung, Niraj Chokshi, Lisa Lerer and Robert Chiarito contributed reporting.
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Nov. 13, 2026, 4:53 p.m. ETCovering the aviation industryAs of about 4:45 p.m., there were more than 7,800 flights delayed in the United States and about 350 cancellations, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website.
Nov. 13, 2026, 4:50 p.m. ETA United Airlines employee inside Chicago O’Hare International Airport is telling departing passengers that live in the area to go home. She also informed travelers that passengers on planes that were on the runway to depart had been removed.
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Nov. 13, 2026, 4:49 p.m. ETFriday’s ground stop is only the third nationwide in decades. The F.A.A. issued nationwide ground stops previously on Sept. 11, 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and on Jan. 11, 2023, due to an outage in the F.A.A.’s system to alert pilots to safety issues.
Nov. 13, 2026, 4:46 p.m. ETThe last nationwide ground stop on Jan. 11, 2023, lasted about 90 minutes after the crash of an aviation warning system. Like today, airborne flights were able to continue to their destinations and land.
Nov. 13, 2026, 4:46 p.m. ETAirports across the country are telling travelers to check with their airline for updates on delays and cancellations before heading to the airport.
Nov. 13, 2026, 4:44 p.m. ETAirlines reporterUnited Airlines said in a statement that its airborne flights would continue but that new domestic flights would not depart while the ground stop was in place.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTNov. 13, 2026, 4:39 p.m. ETCovering the aviation industryThe nationwide pause in departures could have widespread effects. Even if short-lived, the disruption will delay thousands of flights. If it lasts long, those delays could turn into cancellations as flight crews reach legal working limits. That would have cascading effects throughout the weekend.
Nov. 13, 2026, 4:39 p.m. ETReporting from DenverIn the Denver airport, passengers were taken off their flights with their suitcases. A handful began rebooking travel for the next day. But most waited patiently for any kind of update. A Southwest flight attendant announced that the airline expected an update in 30 minutes.
Nov. 13, 2026, 4:35 p.m. ETAirlines reporterThere were more than 30,000 departures and arrivals scheduled for the remainder of the day after the nationwide ground stop began shortly before 4 p.m. Eastern Time, according to the flight tracking app Flighty.
Nov. 13, 2026, 4:35 p.m. ETCovering the aviation industryThe F.A.A. last stopped flights nationwide in 2023, when contractors unintentionally deleted files related to an alert system used to communicate with pilots, delaying thousands of flights.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTNov. 13, 2026, 4:30 p.m. ETAirlines reporterThere are more than 1,000 airborne aircraft headed to U.S. airports amid the nationwide ground stop, according to Flightradar24, a flight tracking website.
