Overview
- The FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday after controllers reported a communications problem that affected every en route air traffic control center and stopped departures across the United States.
- Airport operations were visibly disrupted with normally crowded security lines notably empty at New York’s LaGuardia and flights held on the ground at major hubs.
- FAA technical personnel are investigating the outage and U.S. law-enforcement sources cited by CNN say the incident is not currently believed to be the result of a cyberattack.
- The pause lasted more than four hours before being lifted and aviation data firm estimates cited by reporting put the number of travelers affected at roughly 1.5 million with delays and cancellations expected to continue.
- Nationwide ground stops are rare events last seen after a January 2023 outage and after September 11, 2001, and the en route centers involved are the regional facilities that manage planes between airports, so a communications failure there directly disrupts the national flow of departures.