US Flights Face Thousands of Cancellations After FAA Lifts Nationwide Ground Stop

Ehtisham Qudrat: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted a rare nationwide ground stop after a major air traffic control communications outage halted departures across all U.S. airports on Friday, November 13, 2026. While airspace reopened around 8:15 p.m. EST following a roughly four-to-five-hour freeze, thousands of cancellations and cascading delays continue into today.

Cause of the Outage

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the disruption was caused by aging network technology in radar and air traffic control communications systems, stating, “Today’s nationwide ground stop happened because our air traffic control system is operating on DECADES-OLD, analog equipment that simply cannot compete with the demands of the 21st century”. “Our switches, our routers, ‌actually got overloaded with data... They started ⁠to give us inconsistency in ‌the data ... and because of that, we shut the system ‌down,” Mr. Duffy added.

Both Secretary Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ruled out any cyberattack, terror threat, or external software outage.

According to an official FAA Newsroom update, technicians thoroughly tested the communications systems to confirm stability and reliability before clearing flights to resume.

Impact on Air Travel

According to reports, flight-tracking data shows more than 6,600 flights were canceled and roughly 8,600 delayed, leaving tens of thousands of travelers stranded.

Reports suggest airlines are working through a massive backlog of displaced aircraft and crews. Secretary Duffy said at a White House briefing that restoring normal schedules will take time, “The ground stop was lifted tonight, but recovery will be slow as planes and crews need to be repositioned.”

A nationwide ground stop is an extreme safety measure used only twice before in recent decades, during a 90-minute system outage in 2023 and following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Passengers with upcoming U.S. flights are advised by the FAA and major outlets like NBC News to check directly with their airlines for rebooking and updated departure times.