ORLANDO, Fla. — The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports Friday after a communication issue affected all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
“FAA technicians are investigating the issue,” Duffy wrote in a post on X. “We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”
The FAA ordered the stop for all airlines, citing “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” ABC News reported.
No timeline announced for flights to resume
Duffy’s statement did not give an estimated restoration time or identify what caused the communication issue.
Details about the impact on Orlando International Airport were not immediately available.
Travelers should check with their airlines for updates on individual flights.
The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 13, 2026
A similar nationwide halt occurred in 2023
The FAA previously paused departures nationwide on Jan. 11, 2023, after an outage in its Notice to Air Missions system, which provides flight crews with critical safety information.
That ground stop lasted roughly two hours and was lifted at 9:07 a.m. Eastern after system testing, according to FAA testimony.
The agency later determined that contractors had unintentionally deleted files while correcting synchronization between the system’s primary and backup databases.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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