US aviation regulator grounds all departing flights nationwide over air traffic control communications failure

The United States Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights across the country on Friday, after what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described as a communication issue affecting the nation's air traffic control centres. The order applied to every US airport and disrupted thousands of flights, in one of the most extensive interruptions to American air travel in years.

Under the order, planes already in the air were permitted to continue their journeys and land, but aircraft still on the ground could not take off. Flight tracking service FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or cancelled as a result of the nationwide ground stop.

"The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centres," Duffy said. "FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them."

Shortly before the nationwide announcement, the agency had already halted traffic in Chicago because of air traffic control communications issues. "All departing traffic should remain groundstopped until further notice," the FAA said at the time. The agency added that it would manage international flights on a case by case basis.

Officials did not immediately say how long the nationwide stoppage was expected to last. Duffy said technicians were investigating the failure and promised updates as more information became available.

Friday's disruption is the latest sign of strain on the US air traffic control system. The network has been beset by equipment failures, communications problems and shortages of controllers, all while the FAA works to replace ageing infrastructure.

Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to fund the overhaul of the system. On Friday, the FAA and the White House asked lawmakers for another $30.1 billion.

A halt of every departure in the country is an extraordinary step. Friday's ground stop was only the second nationwide stoppage of all departures in the United States since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Until Friday, such a sweeping action had been taken only once in nearly a quarter of a century.

The only other such stoppage took place in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.