US aviation agency lifts nationwide ground stop affecting all air travel

The Federal Aviation Administration has lifted a nationwide ground stop that delayed or canceled more than 11,000 US flights, according to aviation tracker FlightAware. The FAA confirmed the airspace was open in an advisory on its website, with US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stating that while the system is operational, it will take time to unwind what happened this afternoon.

Duffy confirmed that the federal government has "identified the problem" that brought down the US air traffic control system on Friday. Earlier, he had attributed the stoppage to "a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers" and said FAA technicians were investigating the matter.

System Failure Cause

During a White House briefing, Duffy explained that the FAA's "incredibly old air traffic control system" experienced router overload issues. Our routers actually got overloaded with data, and they started to give us inconsistency in the data from those routers. And because of that, we shut the system down, he said.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated that preliminary investigations did not indicate the stoppage was tied to a "nefarious attack." "There's no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against it. It's just a telecommunications outage as of right now," he told reporters.

According to CNN, the FAA informed airlines that the outages resulted from router malfunctions originating at Chicago Midway International Airport and spreading across the country. More than 3,500 airplanes were in the air when the ground stop was issued.

Passenger Impact

The sudden ground stop threw airports into chaos, with passengers facing significant delays and cancellations. A woman identified as Lola at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York expressed frustration, saying she had already rebooked her flight to Atlanta for another day and was going home. "I don't like it," she said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the Trump administration's response, writing on X: "Americans are stuck at airports across the country. They deserve answers, clear updates, and a plan to get home safely. Instead, the Trump Administration is correcting reporters on AI's 'preferred name'. These are not serious people."

US Congressman Ro Khanna emphasized the need for better communication during such incidents. "There's a lot of nervousness," he said. "We're waiting to be briefed in Congress about what, exactly, has happened. We just need communication from them. If they were there every hour briefing the American public, it would help and give us a sense of a timeline."

Broader Context

This marks the third time all departing flights have been grounded in the US, following the 9/11 attacks and a January 2023 pause due to a pilot notification system malfunction. The FAA oversees more than 14,000 air traffic controllers who manage approximately 44,000 daily flights across the country.

Last week, the FAA announced the activation of the first digital air traffic control towers in Alaska and Florida as part of modernization efforts. Last year, Congress approved $12.5 billion to address the FAA's aging communications system, with officials now requesting an additional $30.1 billion to resolve other issues.

As the system reopened, airports began issuing updated guidance. San Francisco International Airport announced flights to Hawaii and Asia were cleared to depart, while John F. Kennedy Airport advised travelers to confirm flight statuses with airlines before heading to the airport. British Airways canceled a New York flight from Heathrow, and Manchester airport warned of potential disruptions to Virgin Atlantic flights.