FAA Lifts Nationwide Ground Stop After Telecommunications Outage Disrupts Thousands of Flights
The US Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide ground stop on Friday after more than four hours, following a telecommunications outage caused by routine maintenance. The disruption led to thousands of flight delays and cancellations worldwide, stranding tens of thousands of passengers.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop on Friday at 8:15 PM ET after the shutdown lasted more than four hours. The order was issued at 3:53 p.m. ET, following telecommunications issues that began at 3:36 p.m. ET. At the time of the initial announcement at 15:54 EST, there were approximately 3,500 airplanes in the air.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that a contractor performing routine maintenance to upgrade copper wire to fiber optic cable caused an overload in older routers within the air traffic control communication system. Approximately 75% of the system had already been transitioned to fiber. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed there was no indication of a cyber-attack or nefarious activity behind the outage.
This event marked the second nationwide ground stop since the September 11, 2001 attacks, following a previous one in January 2023 that lasted 1 hour and 52 minutes and resulted in 9,500 delayed flights and 1,300 cancelled flights.
According to FlightAware, over 8,500 flights were delayed and nearly 8,000 were cancelled on Friday due to the ground stop. Data cited from FlightRadar24 reported 8,600 delayed flights and 6,600 cancelled flights. Tens of thousands of passengers were stranded in airports, facing uncertainty regarding accommodation and meals.
The disruption extended internationally. All US-bound air traffic from the 42 Eurocontrol member states was suspended during the ground stop, affecting flights from Europe and the UK, including operations at Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Manchester Airport, London, Dublin, Copenhagen, Milan, Paris, and Rome. Sydney Airport grounded all US-bound flights, holding some planes on the tarmac for up to three hours. Disruptions also affected international flights from Canada.
Domestically, major hubs including San Francisco International Airport, John F Kennedy Airport, Chicago, Newark, Boston, and Washington DC experienced significant impacts. Airlines such as Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue, British Airways, Air Canada, and Southwest Airlines resumed operations gradually with limited flights initially. An estimated 4,000 to 5,000 flights out of 41,000 scheduled were cancelled on Saturday, with 1,500 additional flights cancelled for Sunday. A ripple effect on airline schedules is expected to last several days.
Duffy estimated that modernizing the air traffic control system would cost $50 billion for a complete overhaul, while also requesting $30 billion specifically for infrastructure upgrades.
Under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, airlines must offer alternative travel or full refunds for significantly delayed or cancelled flights, though compensation is not required for disruptions caused by air traffic control issues.