FAA Ground Stop Lifted After 4,700 US Flights Cancelled
The Federal Aviation Administration reopened US airspace at 8:15pm ET on Friday after a nationwide ground stop lasting more than four hours. Officials blamed overloaded routers. More than 4,700 flights were cancelled, and airlines warned of knock-on disruption through the weekend.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop on Friday, November 13, 2026, reopening US airspace at 8:15pm Eastern Time after more than four hours in which departing flights were barred from taking off. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA ground stop lifted but warned that recovery would be slow.
"We've opened up the airspace," Duffy said. "It's going to be slow," he added, urging passengers to check with their airlines.
Cancellations and delays
More than 4,700 flights were cancelled and 10,000 delayed on Friday, according to FlightRadar24. Another 700 flights were already cancelled for Saturday. Aviation analysts said it could take days for airlines to restore their schedules.
Flight-data firm Cirium said about 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers were scheduled to depart US airports after 4pm ET. By 7:05pm ET, at least 827 flights had been diverted, of which 670 returned to their departure airports and 157 landed elsewhere.
JetBlue Airways told staff it would cancel the rest of Friday's flights except European routes. It also cancelled other Saturday flights so crews and planes are in place to resume operations, according to a memo seen.
What officials say caused it
The FAA issued the order at 3:54pm ET, citing a telecommunications outage affecting air route traffic control centers. These facilities guide aircraft at high altitude along their routes. Duffy said the trouble began at 3:36pm, when radar and communications systems became unstable.
"What we have is an incredibly old air traffic control system," Duffy said at a White House briefing. Routers were overloaded with data and began giving inconsistent readings, so the system was shut down, he said. More than 3,500 aircraft were in the air when the stop began, and they were allowed to land.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a cyberattack. "It appears this was mechanically driven," he said. The briefing turned into a plea for Congress to fund a new air traffic control system.
Stranded passengers
Passenger Nicholas Erdodi, who had flown from New Zealand to reach a conference in Chicago, spent six hours at Los Angeles International Airport after leaving his plane. He had been rebooked but did not know whether his next flight would depart. "Lack of information is what bothers me," he said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the administration's communication on social media. Representative Ro Khanna said Congress was still waiting to be briefed on what caused the failure.
FAA technicians are investigating. Flights will depart as en route facilities recover, the agency said.
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