The Federal Aviation Administration imposed a nationwide ground stop on Friday after communications problems affected the 22 air route traffic control centres that manage aircraft movement between airports across the United States.
The FAA said the measure was introduced “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety”, but did not provide a timeline for lifting it. The disruption has led to airborne holding at airports across the National Airspace System because of equipment outages, with new domestic departures halted while the ground stop remains in place.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the communications issue affected all 22 regional air traffic control centres. FAA technicians were investigating the problem, he said. The agency has not indicated whether the outage was caused by a single equipment failure or a wider systems problem.
Airlines began managing operations around the restriction. United Airlines said flights that were already airborne would continue, while new domestic flights would not depart during the FAA-imposed ground stop. International flights were being handled on a case-by-case basis rather than being automatically suspended.
The disruption also affected how airports and carriers planned aircraft movements, as controllers normally rely on the regional centres to coordinate flights travelling between airports. The FAA advised users to expect airborne holding, adding that the measure was intended to protect safety while the communications problem was investigated.
Nav Canada said it was monitoring the FAA ground stop but that its own systems were operating normally and its operations had not been affected. The statement indicates that the immediate disruption described in the report was centred on the US air traffic control network.
The nationwide ground stop is the first since January 2023, when a malfunction involving a key FAA computer system disrupted flight operations. Before that, the last nationwide ground stop was issued after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The incident has again drawn attention to the condition of the infrastructure supporting the US air traffic control system. The US government has been working to replace older technology used by air traffic controllers after Congress approved $12.5 billion for the programme last year. The work includes replacing miles of copper wiring with fibre-optic lines and gradually upgrading radio systems at airports.
That modernisation programme remains incomplete. Duffy has said a further $30 billion would be needed to finish the work, while the White House has begun lobbying Congress for additional funding. The FAA’s current ground stop will remain in place until the communications issue is resolved and the agency determines that flight operations can safely resume.
