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FAA grounds every US departure in a nationwide stop | Flights are moving again, but delays are cascading

Published November 13, 2026

Flying anywhere in the United States tonight or this weekend? Check your flight before you leave for the airport. The FAA ground-stopped every US departure on Friday afternoon, November 13, and although departures were moving again when we checked at 5:15 p.m. Eastern, average departure delays at the biggest hubs were running between one hour and an hour and a half and still climbing.

• The FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center issued the stop at 3:54 p.m. Eastern on Friday, November 13, ordering every departure in the country held on the ground 'due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety', until further notice, with an advisory window running to 11:30 p.m. Eastern. Chicago's departures, at O'Hare and Midway, had been halted shortly before the order went nationwide.
• The stated cause: a communication issue impacting all of the FAA's Air Route Traffic Control Centers, the facilities that handle flights between airports. 'The FAA 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,' Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
• Flights already in the air could land, but nothing on the ground could take off. International flights were managed case by case while the stop was in force.
• FlightAware counted nearly 7,000 flights delayed or cancelled as the stop took hold, and its live board showed 9,086 delays within, into or out of the United States for the day when checked at 5:15 p.m. Eastern. It is only the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the September 11, 2001 attacks; the other, in January 2023, lasted under two hours.
• Where it stands: at 5:14 p.m. Eastern the nationwide stop no longer appeared on the FAA's National Airspace System status board and departures were moving again, but the FAA has not announced an official lifting time, and its board still flags possible ground stops at individual airports tonight, including Philadelphia, San Diego, New York JFK, Seattle, Las Vegas and Newark. Aircraft and crews are out of position, so delays and cancellations will keep cascading into the weekend even with the stop over.