FAA orders nationwide departure halt over communications outage
The FAA halted departing flights nationwide on Nov. 13 after a reported telecom outage affecting air traffic control centers.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
2 min read
The FAA nationwide ground stop ordered on Friday, Nov. 13, halted departing traffic at U.S. airports after a communications problem affected all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The precautionary order disrupted new departures across the country while technicians investigated the outage.
Duffy said the issue was a communications problem, and an FAA statement cited by Click2Houston called it a temporary telecommunications outage. The FAA had not identified a final technical cause in the reporting available Friday.
What does the FAA nationwide ground stop mean for flights?
An FAA ground stop requires aircraft that meet its stated criteria to stay on the ground. The agency’s policy says the criteria can be tied to an airport, airspace or equipment issue, and describes ground stops as among its most restrictive traffic-management measures.
FAA policy calls for less restrictive measures to be considered before a national ground stop when feasible. Its Air Traffic Control System Command Center is required to issue an advisory, then monitor, modify or cancel the stop as conditions change, according to FAA ground-stop policy.
For this order, United Airlines said flights already airborne would continue, while new domestic departures would not leave as long as the stop remained in force. Officials said inbound international flights would be handled case by case, according to reports by Ars Technica, The National News Desk and Click2Houston.
An FAA advisory instructed departing traffic to remain on the ground until further notice, The National News Desk reported. That report listed an event window beginning at 4:53 p.m. ET and running to 11 p.m. ET, while noting that the agency could change the window.
Why is this FAA ground stop being called the third nationwide one?
Several outlets described Friday’s order as the third nationwide FAA ground stop. They cited the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when civilian departures were halted and commercial takeoffs did not resume until Sept. 13, and a Jan. 11, 2023 outage involving the Notice to Air Missions system.
Those comparisons describe the scale of the departure halt, not a shared cause. The supplied reporting does not include an FAA historical record verifying the count, and officials described the Nov. 13 event as a telecommunications outage rather than a security threat.
Passengers were urged to check with their airlines for current flight information. Airlines had begun warning of disruptions, but the reporting did not establish how long the stop would last or the total number of flights affected.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.