Key facts
- The FAA halted departures from all US airports in a nationwide ground stop on November 13, 2026.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cited a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
- Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a nefarious attack.
- Mullin said the FAA would handle incoming international flights on a case-by-case basis.
- American Airlines warned that disruptions were expected for the rest of the day.
- The FAA has issued only two prior nationwide ground stops, on September 11, 2001, and January 11, 2023.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday, November 13, 2026, halting departures from all US airports. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the order on X, citing a "communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." Duffy said FAA staff were troubleshooting the problem and promised updates as more information became known.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the ground stop was not prompted by a security threat. "This is a telecommunications outage out of the FAA. Out of an abundance of caution, we have grounded all of the flights," Mullin said. "There's no indication as of yet that this is a nefarious attack against us." Mullin said the FAA would handle incoming international flights on a case-by-case basis.
The FAA has issued only two prior nationwide ground stops. The first came during the attacks of September 11, 2001, when the agency stopped all civilian departures and ordered airborne aircraft to land; commercial flights did not take off again until September 13. Flights were also grounded for less than two hours on the morning of January 11, 2023, after the Notice to Air Missions system suffered an outage.
Airlines had already canceled flights scheduled to leave later on November 13, 2026, and American Airlines warned that disruptions were expected for the rest of the day. "This is going to take some time," Mullin said. "Flights are accounted for, and there should be no fear to the public at all."