Airports across the United States faced an extraordinary aviation disruption on Friday, November 13, 2026, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide ground stop, suspending departing flights because of serious communications problems affecting air traffic control operations.
The unprecedented directive instructed aircraft operators across the country to keep departing traffic grounded until further notice. The order affected major airports, including Kansas City International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago-area airports and Philadelphia International Airport.
According to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the technical issue was affecting all 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers responsible for managing aircraft operating at higher altitudes across the United States. FAA technicians were investigating the communications failure as aviation officials worked to determine how quickly normal operations could resume.
The nationwide ground stop created uncertainty for thousands of passengers, with travelers facing delayed departures, disrupted connections and changes to their travel plans. Airports experienced significant operational interruptions as airlines worked to respond to the FAA directive.
The agency clarified that inbound international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis. Aircraft already airborne were not subject to the same departure restrictions and could continue toward their destinations under air traffic control instructions.
Despite descriptions of airports being on lockdown, the incident was not reported as a nationwide security evacuation or a confirmed terrorist threat. Instead, the disruption resulted from a technical communications problem that raised safety concerns for flight operations.
The nationwide order was particularly significant because such a widespread aviation shutdown is extremely rare. The previous nationwide ground stop occurred in January 2023 following an outage involving the FAA’s pilot notification system.
Passengers were urged to contact their airlines, monitor flight updates and avoid assuming that scheduled departure times would remain unchanged.
As officials continued investigating, the immediate priority remained restoring reliable communications and ensuring that flights could resume safely across the country’s aviation network.