FAA Issues Nationwide Ground Stop Due to Air Traffic Control Communications Failure

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instituted a nationwide ground stop on Friday afternoon following the discovery of a widespread communications failure impacting air traffic control (ATC) facilities across the United States. Effective 3:54 p.m. EST on November 13, all aircraft operators were directed to suspend departures at every U.S. airport. Aircraft already in the air were allowed to continue their flights and complete landings as scheduled. This decisive action was taken to maintain safety amid unprecedented ATC communications problems.

The FAA communicated the directive via its Air Traffic Control System Command Center, the entity responsible for managing nationwide traffic flow and coordination. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the disruption was affecting all 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), which serve as the core hubs directing en route traffic across the country. FAA technical teams immediately began troubleshooting the issue to restore reliable communications.

Prior to the nationwide stop, the FAA had imposed a targeted ground stop affecting the Chicago airspace. The nationwide order expanded the suspension to include all departing aircraft and included special provisions for international flights already inbound to the United States. These international arrivals were to be managed individually on a case-by-case basis to minimize disruption while maintaining safety.

The last instance of a nationwide ground stop in the U.S. airspace occurred on January 11, 2023, when a failure in the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system compelled a halt on departures across the country. That outage lasted under two hours but caused thousands of flight delays and cancellations. Notably, the only other time a ground stop of this magnitude had been issued nationwide was following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

This latest incident comes against a backdrop of extensive efforts to modernize the FAA's aging air traffic control infrastructure. In 2025, Congress allocated $12.5 billion specifically for upgrades to outdated communications systems within the national airspace. Furthermore, on the same day as the outage, the FAA and the White House jointly submitted a request for an additional $30.1 billion aimed at broader technology modernization needs.

As the communication failure was unfolding, FAA officials had not publicly identified the root cause nor provided a projected timeline for the restoration of full operational communications. The agency's priority remained ensuring the safety of passengers and crews while minimizing the impact on flight schedules throughout the country. Airlines and airports complied with the order, grounding departing flights until the FAA issued a release allowing resumption.