FAA orders nationwide ground stop after communication issue

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered all departing flights at U.S. airports to remain on the ground Friday after a communication issue affected every Air Route Traffic Control Center, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

The FAA cited “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety” in issuing the rare nationwide ground stop. Its alert did not explain the circumstances or say when flights might resume.

“By order of the Federal Aviation Command Center all airports are ground stopped,” the Air Traffic Control System Command Center said in an alert posted on the FAA’s National Airspace System Status website. “All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice. Inbound international flights will be managed on a case by case basis.”

Duffy identified the communication issue in a social media post. “FAA technicians are investigating the issue,” he said. “We will provide immediate updates as we have them.” Neither the FAA alert nor Duffy’s post provided further details about the problem.

Shortly before the nationwide order, ground stops had been listed for Chicago’s two major airports, O’Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport, because of an equipment outage. The available information did not establish whether that outage was related to the nationwide communication issue.

Nationwide ground stops are extremely rare. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the FAA halted civilian air traffic across U.S. airspace and ordered planes already in the air to land at the nearest available airports. In January 2023, the agency grounded flights after a failure in the Notice to Air Missions system, which alerts pilots to potential dangers.

Friday’s order applied to departing traffic at all U.S. airports. The FAA said it would handle inbound international flights individually, but its alert gave no timetable for lifting the ground stop.