The Federal Aviation Administration has lifted a nationwide ground stop that halted all departing flights on Friday. Officials warned that the recovery process will be slow. While the airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m. ET, travelers should expect continued delays and cancellations as airlines work to unwind the disruption.
A telecommunications outage halted flights
A telecommunications outage at air route traffic control centers, which manage aircraft moving between different parts of the country, triggered the ground stop at 3:54 p.m. ET on Friday, according to Al Jazeera.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the outage came from an outdated air traffic control system during a Friday evening news conference.
The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC.
Routers in the system “got overloaded with data,” Duffy said. This led to instability for radar.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said new security patches in the older system appeared to “overwhelm” those routers, according to CBS News.
The safety of the flying public is always the FAA’s highest priority. The FAA lifted the ground stop and some flight departures are resuming. Before clearing flights to resume, we thoroughly tested our systems to confirm they were stable and that operations remain reliable.…
There was no indication of a nefarious act or a threat to the United States, Mullin said.
Mullin said there was no cyberattack linked to the event. He said the public was not in danger.
A nationwide ground stop is a rare but major disruption. It appears to be related to FAA's ARTCCs. @FAANews will be updating Congress and the flying public about the problem, but the incident highlights the need to prioritize modernizing ARTCCs over other projects. No new ARTCC… https://t.co/LtWOt0u0mx
Travel delays and cancellations mount
More than 4,700 flights were cancelled and 10,000 were delayed on Friday, according to data from Flightradar24.
An extra 700 flights had already been cancelled for Saturday, Al Jazeera reported.
At 20:54 UTC, the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all flights departing for US airports due to an equipment outage. At the time, 4,042 flights destined for US airports were already airborne. Watch the next two hours of US air traffic. pic.twitter.com/qbtzX7cMtc
The ground stop caused chaos for the travel industry and professional sports schedules.
The outage had several specific operational impacts:
There are currently 3,100 airborne aircraft bound for US airports amid nationwide ground stop. No additional aircraft are taking off at this time. pic.twitter.com/GGqfb8QXhP
- Airborne Aircraft: Planes already in the air were permitted to continue to their destinations and land, according to Al Jazeera.
- Airport Capacity: Reagan Washington National Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport neared capacity as major hubs faced congestion, according to NBC News.
- International Travel: Officials managed international flights on a case-by-case basis. Some flights were allowed to depart.
Athletic teams struggle to reach games
The stoppage impacted many professional and collegiate athletic organizations scheduled to travel for weekend games, ESPN reported.
NBA, NHL, and college teams scrambled to reach destinations.
Several high-profile college football teams were affected:
- Texas and Tennessee: Both teams returned to their campuses during the stoppage. They made plans to fly out once the order was lifted.
- Auburn: The team traveled by bus to Mississippi State. The kickoff time for the Arizona State at UCF Knights game moved to 5:30 p.m. ET.
- Purdue: The team took buses from West Lafayette, Indiana, to play at Iowa.
- Kansas: The kickoff time for the game against West Virginia moved to 3:30 p.m. ET.
- BYU: The game was rescheduled to 7 p.m. ET, a source told ESPN.
The Brooklyn Nets were among five NBA teams scheduled to fly on Friday; their flight to Memphis was halted after they boarded the plane in New Orleans.
The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U. S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.
Airlines face slow recovery
Rescheduling passengers through major hubs will be difficult because airlines operate through interconnected networks, Transportation Secretary Duffy said.
“It’s going to be slow,” Duffy said.
Safety is always our top priority, and we are currently in close communication with the DOT and the FAA amid the nationwide ground stop. We appreciate the patience of the traveling public and the dedication of frontline employees who are navigating this situation. Impacted…
Duffy called for $50bn in upgrades to the national air traffic control system following the incident.
He said he is optimistic that flights will be fully operational by the start of the Thanksgiving holiday later this month.
The safety of our skies is built on redundancies. Whatever led to the nationwide ground stop will warrant a thorough and complete investigation. As Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member, I'll be demanding answers from the FAA. https://t.co/kCJts7xBRm
Passengers should check their flight status directly with their airlines for the most current information.
Earlier coverage: FAA Grounds Flights Amid Telecom Outage, Homeland Security Secretary Says No Threat
Travel Alert: The FAA has lifted the ground stop that was in effect from Friday afternoon. It will take time for aircraft to move in and out of airports across the country and flights from AUS have not yet started to depart. We anticipate it taking throughout the evening and…
More on Federal Aviation Administration
The FAA-mandated ground stop has been lifted and we are safely resuming flights. We encourage you to check the Delta app or https://t.co/19TGEJUCaj for flight status and the latest updates. Thank you for your understanding as we work as quickly as possible to fully restore…
The nationwide FAA ground stop has been lifted. Flight delays and cancellations continue. Check with your airline for the latest information.
The FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop for all flights. Travelers should confirm their flight status with their airline before heading to the airport.