FAA Lifts Nationwide Ground Stop, but Flight Chaos Will Continue

The Federal Aviation Administration’s ground stop, which halted flights nationwide, was lifted on Friday after stranding travelers in airports and canceling nearly 5,000 flights.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said late Friday that the “public was never in danger” during the ground stop. He said “all your loved ones are safe,” and that the federal government was working to resolve the issue.

He said there had been 3,000 flights in the air at the time of the stop, all of which landed safely using alternative systems.

Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the same press conference that the FAA system experienced “inconsistency” in its data systems that communicate with airplanes. Because of that, a ground stop was called around 3 p.m.

Both said the nation’s air-traffic control system was outdated and blamed Friday’s issue on its age. They called for Congress to cough up $50 billion for its modernization.

Mullin said he’d seen “zero evidence” that the issue was a cyberattack or a problem with artificial intelligence, which he dubbed “SI,” for the Trump Administration’s preferred term, “superintelligence.”

Duffy said they were still “working on the details” of exactly what happened — what caused it and how it could be prevented in the future. He said he couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t happen again when asked if the traveling public should feel safe when flying in US airspace.

This is a breaking story, and it will be updated.

Earlier, Duffy said just after 4:15 pm. Eastern time that the nationwide flight traffic halt came “following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.”

“FAA technicians are investigating the issue,” he said in a post on X.

The outage comes the same week as the FAA deployed SMART, a new AI tool to help air traffic control. ASI, the company that makes the SMART system for the FAA, said that Friday’s issues weren’t “based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC.”

Mullin said earlier Friday, when asked if the AI system might be related to the outage: “That’s what we’re looking at.”

Microsoft, which faced massive issues across its services this week, also said that it had “no indication” the ground stop was related to any Microsoft services.

Meanwhile, the FAA said that the ground stop was due to “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”

Nearly 5,000 flights had been canceled within the US, or in or out of the country, as of 7:20 p.m. Eastern time, according to data from FlightAware.

Chicago O’Hare topped the list with 251 cancellations, while Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson — the world’s busiest airport — also saw over 200 flights canceled, as of that time.

More than 100 flights were canceled at major airports in New York, Boston, Texas, and Denver.

Homeland Security says FAA ground stop isn’t a safety issue

Mullin said the ground stop wasn’t a safety issue. He called it a communications-related issue. He said he doesn’t want people to assume this is a safety threat to the American people or “another 9/11.”

He added that Duffy is “on this” and that he was “on the phone earlier with the president.” He emphasized that “everybody is safe” and “there is no fear to the public.”

When asked about the timeframe, he said they hadn’t “discussed any timeframe.”

Among the flights affected was Delta Air Lines Flight 958, which was traveling from Los Angeles to New York’s JFK. Almost four hours into its journey, at 4:11 p.m., the Boeing 767 turned around and diverted to Cincinnati.

Another Delta flight, from Atlanta to JFK, changed course over the Eastern Seaboard and diverted to Baltimore.

And an LA-bound flight from Puebla, Mexico, operated by the Mexican budget airline Volaris, diverted to Tijuana — barely south of the US border.

Delta and Volaris did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The FAA notice said that inbound international flights would be managed on a “case-by-case basis.”

“The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports following communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” an FAA spokesperson told Business Insider. “FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide updates.”

Pilots in the air have a system for these issues

Mark Stephens, a retired Delta Air Lines pilot, told Business Insider that pilots have a system for these situations to maintain safe distances from other aircraft and land within their limits.

Planes en route during a ground stop can still land; they “continue via the flight plan, and then start using backup methods.”

The last time a nationwide ground stop occurred was in January 2023, and it lasted only about 90 minutes. Before that, it was in 2001 on 9/11.

Airlines are also alerting their customers. United said, on its website: “Due to a nationwide ground stop by the FAA, we’re holding planes from taking off at this time. Planes already in flight will continue. We’ll update you as we learn more.” And Delta said: “Delta flights are currently being impacted by an ATC-mandated nationwide ground stop.”

Stephens said this could create a snowball effect into the weekend: “Long delays will turn into a crew rest nightmare,” he said. “Tomorrow is going to be a very difficult reset as pilots and flight attendants will be all over the country, and planes will be stuck in cities without crews.”

He added that “major hubs don’t have space for all these planes.”

Passengers are facing travel chaos

Some travelers were taking matters into their own hands: Amtrak said on Friday evening that its website and app were generating error messages. “We’re currently experiencing higher-than-normal call volumes due to ongoing airline issues,” the train operator said in a post on X.

At airports around the country, passengers were facing crushing delays.

A passenger at the Springfield-Branson Airport in Missouri said he was told all flights were canceled for the rest of the day, and that he should rebook — but when he tried to do so, airline systems were overloaded, and he couldn’t get through.

Joy Tiange Golub waited patiently to board her flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Spain as passengers frantically paced around the terminal.

Though announcers said some international flights could take off, hers was delayed. She was eventually able to board.

“No one knows what’s going on,” she said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Noah Sheidlower and Alcynna Lloyd contributed to this report.