A communications failure affecting the nation’s air traffic control network forced the Federal Aviation Administration to halt departing flights across the United States Friday, interrupting travel nationwide while controllers managed aircraft already airborne and federal technicians investigated the disruption.
The November 13 order directed departing aircraft to remain grounded until further notice, with no announced time for takeoffs to resume. International flights approaching the United States were being handled individually, while passengers awaiting departures and connections faced an uncertain timetable.
Aviation professionals contacted by the Grants Pass Tribune reported that airborne aircraft were being redirected to nearby airports under air traffic control instructions. They also reported that communications remained active with aircraft in flight. The number of aircraft diverted, their destinations and the geographic extent of those instructions had not been established.
Those accounts did not establish a nationwide directive requiring every airborne aircraft to land at the nearest airport. The publicly reported FAA order stopped departures and provided for individual handling of incoming international flights.
Neither a cyberattack nor a national security threat had been established as the cause. Reports of aircraft diversions and continued communications with pilots did not independently demonstrate a security incident. Federal officials had identified communications problems affecting air traffic control, but the origin of the disruption remained under investigation.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the problem as affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, while the FAA’s statement referred to multiple facilities. These centers manage aircraft traveling between airport regions and coordinate their movement through assigned airspace.
The FAA had not publicly identified the equipment or service responsible for the failure, detailed which backup systems were operating or announced how long repairs would take. Its statements did not establish that every controller had lost contact with every aircraft.
The nationwide restriction followed ground stops at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports, where equipment outages and communications problems had already interrupted operations. The broader directive extended the departure hold across the country. Flights were also halted at Los Angeles International, Philadelphia International and Minneapolis–St. Paul International airports.
Travelers scheduled to fly Friday should check directly with their airlines before leaving for the airport. Passengers already in terminals should monitor carrier notifications and gate announcements for boarding instructions, departure changes and rebooking information. The federal hold did not automatically cancel reservations or remove airline check-in requirements.
Families awaiting arriving passengers should verify the individual flight’s arrival airport and status. Aircraft already airborne could continue under air traffic control direction, while the aviation professionals contacted by the Tribune reported that diversions were also occurring.
FlightAware displayed 15,416 aircraft airborne worldwide in a tracking snapshot showing 4:14 p.m. Eastern, or 1:14 p.m. Pacific. That figure included aircraft outside U.S. airspace and was not a count of flights affected by the federal restriction or diverted to alternate airports. A verified count of aircraft airborne specifically over the United States was unavailable.
The disruption occurred amid a federal effort to modernize aviation infrastructure. Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to improve the FAA’s communications system. The FAA and White House requested another $30.1 billion Friday to address other infrastructure needs. Officials had not established a connection between a specific modernization project and the communications failure.
Friday’s action marked the second nationwide departure halt since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The previous interruption occurred in January 2023, when a failure of the Notice to Air Missions system prevented pilots from obtaining required flight safety information. That restriction lasted less than two hours.
As of the latest verified update at 4:26 p.m. Eastern, or 1:26 p.m. Pacific, the nationwide departure hold remained in place without an announced restart time. The underlying cause of the communications failure and the full extent of the diversions reported to the Tribune remained unresolved.