UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 8:30 p.m.: The nationwide ground stop has been lifted. At 8:14 p.m., a ground controller at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport told pilots that the stop was "officially over in 1 minute" and that "it'll be normal departures," on air traffic control radio monitored by Cape May Scanner on the ATC.com app. Moments later the controller repeated that "the nationwide ground stop has been lifted," adding there was "no idea what those delays will look like, but as of right now we can let anyone go that is boarded." The FAA later confirmed the stop was over, ABC News reported. The fallout will carry into Saturday: United planned to cancel most of its remaining flights Friday night, Air Canada canceled its remaining Friday flights between Canada and the U.S., and JetBlue said it expects "disruptions to continue into tomorrow, including additional cancellations." Nearly 5,000 flights were canceled nationwide Friday, according to FlightAware. Check with your airline before heading to Atlantic City, Philadelphia or Newark. Listen to the Detroit controller below.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 8 p.m.: Disruptions kept growing through the evening. At 7:30 p.m., FlightAware showed 10,079 delays and 4,238 cancellations of flights into, out of or within the United States, NBC News reported. The FAA had not announced an end to the nationwide stop as of 8 p.m.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 7:30 p.m.: More long-distance flights are getting out under the stop. Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines have confirmed that all West Coast flights will resume, and inter-island flights in Hawaii remain active, Hawaii's Department of Transportation said. San Francisco International cleared Pacific-bound flights, including to Alaska and Hawaii, and Boston Logan said the FAA is allowing some transatlantic departures, ABC News reported. Delta and United are waiving change fees for travelers on affected flights. The FAA said shortly after 6 p.m. that the nationwide ground stop remains in effect. The exceptions are limited to departures from coastal airports on ocean routes, which spend little time in the airspace the outage knocked out. Flights that must cross the country's interior remain grounded.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 7 p.m.: Some flights are leaving again. By 6:50 p.m., cargo and passenger flights were departing the West Coast for Asia and Hawaii, CNBC reported. The FAA had not announced an end to the nationwide stop. About 11,000 flights were scheduled to depart U.S. airports after 4 p.m., and about 600 flights were diverted, according to the flight-data firm Cirium, CNBC reported.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 6:35 p.m.: The FAA said departures will be allowed to resume as its en route air traffic control centers recover, "through coordination with the air traffic control system," CNBC reported. The agency had not lifted the nationwide stop as of 6:30 p.m. In an earlier post on X, the FAA called the cause "a temporary telecommunications outage" and said flights were halted "out of an abundance of caution." It said "every flight has been accounted for" and that international flights "will be handled on a case by case basis," NBC News reported. At Newark Liberty International, tower controllers called the situation "a whole mess right now," with one saying, "I'm as much in the dark as everyone else," NBC News reported.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 6 p.m.: The flight-tracking site FlightAware listed at least 8,000 delays and 400 cancellations shortly after the stop began, CBS News reported. The FAA's airport status page also showed ground stops at Toronto Pearson and Montreal-Trudeau airports, set to run until 6:15 and 6:30 p.m. The FAA still had not announced when U.S. departures would resume.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 5:35 p.m.: The outage is also reaching small airports used by private pilots. On the tower frequency at North Las Vegas Airport, monitored by Cape May Scanner, a pilot asked to take off and the controller replied that there were "no communications with other air traffic control" and there "may be problems with practice frequencies." The pilot then took off. Medical evacuation flights were exempted from the ground stop earlier in the afternoon, controllers said on the radio.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 5:30 p.m.: The ground stop could last into early Saturday. At about 5:15 p.m., a controller said on air traffic control radio monitored by Cape May Scanner that the stop would last at least eight more hours.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 5:25 p.m.: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House there was "no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against us," calling it "a telecommunication outage," though he would not rule out any cause, including a cyberattack. He said all flights were accounted for, that no timeframe for a fix had been discussed and that "this isn't going to just be resolved and turned around within the hour." He said the outage is not connected to Thursday's global Microsoft outage, and that President Donald Trump has been briefed. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the stop follows "a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers," WCVB reported. On air traffic control radio monitored by Cape May Scanner, controllers were told the next update would come at 0430Z, or 11:30 p.m. Eastern.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 4:55 p.m.: Preliminary reports indicate the outage is not a cyberattack, two law enforcement officials told CNN. FBI personnel across the country are monitoring the situation, another law enforcement source told the network.
UPDATED Nov. 13, 2026, 4:25 p.m.: On air traffic control radio monitored by Cape May Scanner, a controller said communications "between all en route facilities" were having problems. En route centers handle planes at cruising altitude between airports. The FAA has not said publicly what failed.
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, Nov. 13, 2026 — The Federal Aviation Administration halted departing flights at airports across the country Friday afternoon, ordering a nationwide ground stop "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety," NBC Chicago reported.
Watch: a controller announces the nationwide ground stop (Recording: ATC.com app)
Nationwide ground stops are extremely rare. "All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice," an air traffic control advisory posted Friday afternoon reads. Inbound flights are being handled case by case, according to the alert NBC Chicago quoted. It applies to airports nationwide, including Atlantic City International and Philadelphia International, the main airports for Cape May County travelers.
On air traffic control radio monitored by Cape May Scanner on the ATC.com app Friday afternoon, a clearance delivery controller at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport told pilots that "all airports, all aircraft are ground stopped until 22 Z for a nationwide equipment outage." That is 5 p.m. Eastern time. The FAA had not said publicly when flights would resume or what equipment failed.
Shortly before the national order, the FAA's airport status page listed ground stops at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports for an "equipment outage," along with equipment-related departure delays at Newark, Teterboro, Orlando, Houston, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Travelers with flights today should check with their airline before heading to the airport. The FAA posts airport status at nasstatus.faa.gov.
Listen
Ground stop lifted: a Detroit ground controller tells pilots departures can resume.
Ground stop begins: a Minneapolis-St. Paul controller announces the nationwide stop.
Recording: ATC.com app.
This story will be updated.
