FAA nationwide ground stop lifted Friday night: flights resume slowly across US
A nationwide ground stop, an order that bars departures, ended on Friday, November 13, 2026. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US agency that oversees air traffic, lifted the order at night, but officials warned that the return to normal will be slow across the country.
Flights carrying the largest number of passengers will get priority in the departure queue. The halt began after an unstable communication link forced the network to shut down to avoid accidents.
Outdated network overloaded, Transportation Secretary says
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the US air traffic system depended on old equipment. He said only the new components installed under the Trump administration withstood the failure, while older routers were overloaded with data.
The government estimated that a complete overhaul of the system would cost about US$50 billion. It blamed Congress for releasing only part of the funding the White House had requested earlier.
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Duffy called the stop an emergency. He asked lawmakers to approve emergency funds right away to finish modernizing the FAA‘s technology.
No sign of cyberattack, officials say
Federal authorities said the communication failure did not put lives or aircraft at risk. The full halt was a precaution, and activities involving risk to life kept stable communication during the episode.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin denied any link between the stop and the Microsoft system problems the day before. He said there was no sign of a cyberattack against US infrastructure, while federal teams keep investigating to rule out every threat.
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When the stop began, reopened and what travelers should expect
- Stop began: around 3:36 p.m. Eastern time
- Airspace reopened: 8:15 p.m. Eastern time
- Aircraft in the air when the stop was issued: more than 3,500
Officials said the recovery will depend on how many crews are available, and cancellations were expected to stretch into the weekend. Duffy said the disruption should not affect Thanksgiving travel.
