11,000 Flights Disrupted as FAA Telecommunications Outage Halts US Departures
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop for all departing flights across the United States on November 13, following a system-wide telecommunications outage. The emergency measure disrupted approximately 11,000 flights, stranding international travelers and grounding domestic departures while authorities worked to restore communications across all 22 regional Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
Telecommunications Failure Hits All 22 Regional Control Centers
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that the sudden technical breakdown disabled critical communications across every regional control center responsible for managing high-altitude traffic between airports. Aircraft already in the air were permitted to proceed to their destinations, with aviation officials verifying that every airborne flight was safely accounted for during the halt. Major international carriers, including Emirates and Etihad Airways, advised passengers flying between the United Arab Emirates and the United States to monitor their flight status directly with the airlines, as neither carrier immediately confirmed specific flight cancellations resulting from the outage.
The nationwide halt directly suspended departures from all US airports, while incoming international flights were managed individually by air traffic controllers working through operational workarounds.
Friday’s outage marks the first nationwide departure freeze since January 2023, when a database corruption within the agency’s Notice to Air Missions system grounded US air traffic for under two hours.
