The Federal Aviation Administration has lifted the rare nationwide ground stop that halted takeoffs across the United States on Friday, and flights are gradually resuming. The recovery is uneven: passengers still face heavy cancellations and delays on Saturday as airlines try to put aircraft and crews back in place.
The FAA Command Center ordered all U.S. airports to hold departing traffic at 3:53 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 13, “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” according to an official advisory. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters the airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m. Eastern. A subsequent FAA Command Center notice recorded the cancellation of the nationwide stop at 8:19 p.m. Eastern — a little more than four hours after it began.
Officials blamed outdated air-traffic technology. Duffy said analog switches and routers became overloaded with data and began returning inconsistent radar and radio information, prompting the agency to shut the system down. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a cyberattack and no connection to the recent Microsoft outage. An earlier FAA statement described a telecommunications outage affecting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
The effects have spilled into Saturday. FlightAware early Saturday showed about 2,935 cancellations and 550 delays within, into or out of the United States. Euronews, citing the same tracking service, put Friday’s cancellations to or from the United States at more than 8,860. Duffy warned that unwinding the backlog would take time and would depend on whether pilots and cabin crews were still available to fly. The FAA advised travelers to check with their airline before going to the airport.
