A nationwide ground stop implemented by the United States Federal Aviation Administration has caused significant travel disruptions for more than 1.5 million air passengers. The halt affected departing flights across the country for over four hours on Friday, leaving airlines to warn that full recovery of normal operations could take several days. The disruption has particularly impacted teams in the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and college football, who faced uncertainty regarding their ability to reach game sites in time.
The FAA lifted the ground stop at 8:15 pm Eastern time on Friday, which corresponds to 1:15 am GMT on Saturday. The decision followed a telecommunications outage that affected all 22 of the country's regional air traffic control centers. Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that approximately 11,000 flights carrying over 1.5 million passengers were scheduled to depart US airports after 4 pm Eastern time. By 7:05 pm on Friday, at least 827 of these flights had been diverted to other destinations.
Tracking data from FlightRadar24 indicated that more than 4,700 flights were cancelled and 10,000 were delayed on Friday. Additionally, 700 flights were already cancelled for Saturday as of the latest reports. At the peak of the ground stop, only 336 flights worldwide were in the air and bound for the United States, highlighting the scale of the operational freeze.
Passengers at major hubs experienced prolonged waits and confusion. At Los Angeles International Airport, Nicholas Erdodi, a traveler from New Zealand attending a conference in Chicago, told Al Jazeera that he spent six hours at the airport after being forced off his aircraft. He noted that a lack of clear information from airport staff was a primary source of frustration. Although he had been rebooked, he remained uncertain if his new flight would depart as planned.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged the strain on the system, stating that it would take time to restore full capacity. He noted that the department would need to make up for lost flights but expected operations to return to normal before the Thanksgiving travel rush begins in less than two weeks. He recognized that tens of thousands of travelers had been stranded during the outage.
The sports world faced immediate logistical challenges. The Associated Press reported that the shutdown left teams in the NBA, NHL, and college football stranded, while NFL teams wondered if they could travel in time for their games. In the NBA, the New York Nets were among five teams scheduled to fly on Friday for Saturday's games. The NHL had 14 games set for Saturday, with the San Jose Sharks waiting to fly to Utah, while the Florida Panthers managed to reach St. Louis before the stoppage took effect.
College football teams also struggled to reach their destinations. The Texas Longhorns had already boarded their plane when it was grounded, with a team spokesman confirming they were waiting for clearance to leave. If the team had to travel by bus to Baton Rouge for a 6:30 pm kickoff on Saturday, the journey would have taken approximately seven hours. Meanwhile, the Washington Huskies' buses, carrying nearly 200 people, had just arrived at the airport when the order was issued, according to The Washington Post.
Conference officials responded to the disruption. The Big 12 Conference stated it was evaluating potential changes to Saturday's schedule, while the Southeastern Conference said it was aware of the impact on team travel. Airlines began announcing their recovery plans, with Delta Air Lines stating it was safely resuming operations and offering flexible rebooking options. United Airlines resumed a number of Friday night flights, and JetBlue planned to resume operations on Saturday morning.
International carriers also felt the effects of the US ground stop. Air Canada said its operations would return gradually, with disruption likely on Saturday, while Aeromexico worked to resume its flights. In Mexico City, Benito Juarez International Airport reported that about 70 flights scheduled for Friday could be affected. In Canada, Toronto Pearson Airport noted that flights not requiring US airspace were operating normally, and the airport had increased staffing to assist affected passengers.
