FAA Nationwide Ground Stop Remains in Effect After Communications Failure

November 13, 2026

The Federal Aviation Administration’s nationwide ground stop remained in effect Friday evening, Nov. 13, 2026, after what the agency’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center later identified as a “COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE.” In a 4:46 p.m. CT advisory, the Command Center said: “THE FAA COMMAND CENTER GROUND STOP REMAINS IN EFFECT. AS ENROUTE FACILITIES RECOVER, FLIGHTS WILL BE ALLOWED TO DEPART THROUGH COORDINATION WITH THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM COMMAND CENTER.” That advisory listed all U.S. airports, set an event window through 10:00 p.m. CT, and said an update was expected at that time.

A Command Center operations plan issued at the same time said, “TRAFFIC WILL BE RELEASED FROM THE NATIONWIDE GROUND STOP AS CONDITIONS ALLOW. THE CURRENT STRATEGY WILL BE A TIERED APPROACH FOR RELEASING MORE TRAFFIC AS LIMITATIONS ARE REDUCED AND VOLUME CAN BE INCREASED.” It listed the nationwide ground stop as active until 10:00 p.m. CT. As of a 5:12 p.m. CT recheck, no later advisory had cancelled the stop, and the FAA, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and the U.S. Department of Transportation had not posted on X that it had been lifted.

The first nationwide order went out at 2:54 p.m. CT as Command Center Advisory 111. It said: “DUE TO EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES AND FOR REASONS OF SAFETY. ATTENTION ALL AIRCRAFT OPERATORS, BY ORDER OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION COMMAND CENTER ALL AIRPORTS ARE GROUND STOPPED. ALL DEPARTING TRAFFIC SHOULD REMAIN GROUND STOPPED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. INBOUND INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS WILL BE MANAGED ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS.”

In a 3:16 p.m. CT post on X, Duffy said the FAA “issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.” He added: “FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.” At 4:02 p.m. CT, the FAA’s official account said: “There has been a temporary telecommunications outage - out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis.” Neither account had posted a further update as of 5:12 p.m. CT. The FAA newsroom had not posted a press release.

The official cause stated so far is a communications or telecommunications failure affecting the Air Route Traffic Control Centers that handle aircraft between airports. The 4:46 p.m. CT nationwide ground-stop advisory listed the reason as “COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE.” A 3:21 p.m. CT Command Center advisory also cited a “NATIONWIDE COMMS FAILURE” when it extended flight-plan drop times at all en route centers. Officials have not identified a more specific system or root cause, and they have not said the outage was a cyber incident.

Related Command Center advisories used “equipment” language for other measures. A 3:20 p.m. CT nationwide airborne-holding advisory said users could expect holding “TO ANY AND ALL AIRPORTS WITHIN THE NAS DUE EQUIPTMENT OUTAGES,” spelling as in the original. Earlier Friday, a Chicago Midway ground stop was attributed to “EQUIPMENT / OUTAGE,” and the Chicago Center later cited an “EQUIPMENT OUTAGE” when it extended flight-plan drop times. Those messages have not been presented as a separate official cause of the national stop.

A ground stop holds departing aircraft on the ground. The later Command Center notices say some departures may resume through coordination as facilities recover, and that airborne holding may occur. The FAA newsroom and official X accounts have not issued a later statement on airborne flights.

As of a 5:12 p.m. CT update from the FAA’s National Airspace System Status system, the earlier delay reason codes that had read “OTHER: NATIONAL STOP” at Atlanta and “TM INITIATIVES:STOP:NAS GS” at Miami and Fort Lauderdale were no longer displayed. Chicago O’Hare International showed departure delays attributed to “EQ:FAA.” The status page listed ground-stop programs only at Montreal and Toronto. Those display changes do not, by themselves, cancel the 4:46 p.m. CT Command Center advisory stating that the nationwide stop remains in effect.

News organizations including NBC News reported that this was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a failure of the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions system halted departures.

Passengers should check directly with their airline for the status of individual flights.

Sources: FAA ATCSCC Advisory 120, Nationwide Ground Stop, signed 4:46 p.m. CT, Nov. 13, 2026 (primary); FAA ATCSCC Advisory 111, National Ground Stop, signed 2:54 p.m. CT, Nov. 13, 2026 (primary); FAA ATCSCC Advisory 119, Operations Plan, 4:46 p.m. CT, Nov. 13, 2026 (primary); FAA ATCSCC Advisory 117, all-centers extended flight plan drop times, signed 3:21 p.m. CT (primary); FAA ATCSCC Advisory 116, nationwide airborne holding, signed 3:20 p.m. CT (primary); FAA ATCSCC Advisory 109, Midway ground stop, signed 2:31 p.m. CT (primary); FAA post on X, Nov. 13, 2026, 4:02 p.m. CT (primary); Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy post on X, Nov. 13, 2026, 3:16 p.m. CT (primary); FAA National Airspace System Status and airport-status API, update time 5:12 p.m. CT, Nov. 13, 2026 (primary); FAA newsroom, checked 5:12 p.m. CT (primary; no press release posted); NBC News, Nov. 13, 2026 (news account of the January 2023 stop); AP live updates, Nov. 13, 2026 (news account).