The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop on November 13 after a communications failure affected all U.S. air route traffic control centers, halting departures and disrupting travel. Flights already in the air could land, but planes on the ground were not cleared to take off. The outage came as several European airlines dealt with a series of bomb threats this week, adding separate security-related disruption to the strain on air travel.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating the communications problem. Officials had not provided a timetable for restoring service.
FAA investigates outage at all air route centers
Duffy said on X that the failure affected every U.S. air route traffic control center. The ground stop allowed aircraft already airborne to land, while preventing new departures. The longer the disruption continued, the greater the potential for delays and changes to airline schedules and operations.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters the Trump administration did not believe the incident involved sabotage or constituted a terrorist threat. He described it as a telecommunications outage and said repairs would take time. Authorities had not disclosed the precise cause or provided an update on restoration of the affected systems.
Bomb threats disrupt European airline operations
Before news of the U.S. ground stop, airlines in Europe had been dealing with a string of bomb threats this week. The threats were thought to be hoaxes, but at least one flight was diverted to a French military base.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Friday that Europe appeared to be facing “hybrid attacks” and a form of psychological warfare. His remarks reflected concern over the nature of the threats, but did not identify who was responsible. Available information did not indicate any link between the European threats and the U.S. communications failure; the incidents remained under investigation or verification.
Microsoft outage and weather radar claims ruled out
Consumers were still dealing with the effects of a Microsoft service disruption that had affected email, collaboration tools and artificial intelligence features. Microsoft said on Friday there was no indication that the U.S. ground stop was connected to its global service outage.
The U.S. National Weather Service said its radar systems were not affected on Friday, rejecting online claims that weather radar had caused the FAA communications failure. Days before the ground stop, the FAA had announced plans to deploy artificial intelligence tools to assist air traffic controllers. There was no evidence that the initiative was related to the outage.
Previous nationwide ground stop dates to 2023
The FAA last imposed a nationwide ground stop in 2023, after files associated with a pilot alert system were accidentally deleted. Thousands of flights were delayed, and operations resumed shortly afterward.
Earlier this year, flights at New York-area airports were also suspended after a contractor accidentally cut a communications fiber-optic line in New Jersey. The cause of the latest failure remains unconfirmed by the FAA. Until officials clarify when communications will be restored and airlines establish revised schedules, delays and itinerary changes remain the immediate concern for travelers.