Airlines issue advisories amid FAA ground stop

Airlines, including Air Canada and American Airlines, faced significant disruptions due to a Federal Aviation Administration ground stop. Communications issues at regional air traffic control centres prompted the FAA to halt flights across the nation. Affected airlines canceled numerous flights and advised passengers to check for updates on their travel status. The ground stop impacted multiple regional centres, although it was lifted later in the evening.

The Details

• Listen to this article in summarized format
• Listen
• Reuters

Airlines including Air Canada and American Airlines issued passenger advisories after a nationwide ground stop imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) disrupted flight operations across the United States, triggering cancellations and departure delays.

Air Canada cancelled all flights to and from the US for the remainder of the evening, warning that services between Canada, the Caribbean and South America that transit US airspace could also be affected.

US flights remain suspended after nationwide FAA ground stop over communication outage American Airlines said some flights at select airports had begun receiving clearance to depart, although most departures remained paused. The carrier warned of continued schedule disruptions and unavoidable cancellations, urging passengers to check their flight status and travel alerts for updates.

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) also issued an update, confirming that Pacific-bound flights, including services to Hawaii and Asia, had been cleared to depart from the airport. It advised passengers to check directly with their airlines for the latest information.

The nationwide ground stop was lifted at 8:15 pm ET, according to Reuters.

Why did the FAA impose a nationwide ground stop?

The FAA grounded flights nationwide on Friday afternoon following communications problems at regional air traffic control centres, citing extraordinary circumstances and safety concerns.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the outage affected 22 regional centres responsible for directing aircraft travelling between airports across the country. FAA technicians were investigating the problem.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication that the disruption was the result of a deliberate attack, describing it as a telecommunications outage.

The incident marked the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a malfunction in a key FAA computer system disrupted air travel. The previous such shutdown had followed the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said the outage appeared similar to a communications failure at a regional air traffic control centre in September, which disrupted hundreds of flights across the Northeast, but on a nationwide scale.

• (Join our
• ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)
• Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source

Add Now!