The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered an immediate nationwide ground stop across all US airports, halting all departing flights due to widespread air traffic control communication failures.
In an urgent directive issued late on Friday, the Federal Aviation Command Center instructed all aircraft operators to remain grounded until further notice, citing “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety”. Inbound international flights are being managed on a case-by-case basis, the agency said.
The halt followed localised ground stops earlier in the evening across Chicago, including at Midway International Airport, after the FAA reported serious technical disruptions affecting air traffic control communications.
Coutrywide ground stops are exceptionally rare in the United States and are typically reserved for major national emergencies or critical systemic failures.
Prior to Friday’s shutdown, the last nationwide halt occurred in January 2023 following an outage of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) pilot notification system, and before that in the immediate aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks.
Loval aviation authorities have not yet provided a timeline for when normal departure operations will resume.
