US Flight Ground Stop: What Went Wrong and How UK Travellers Were Affected

Air travel across the United States was severely disrupted on Friday, 13 November, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide ground stop following communications problems affecting air traffic control centres.

The stoppage lasted more than four hours, leaving passengers stranded at airports and disrupting thousands of flights. The restriction was lifted on Friday evening US time, early on Saturday in the UK, but the effects continued into the weekend, including cancellations and delays affecting services between the United States and the United Kingdom.

The incident has also raised questions about the condition of America's ageing air traffic control infrastructure and the risks of relying on systems that are essential to keeping aircraft moving safely.

On Friday, the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop covering US airports after technical problems affected communications at multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA began seeing "instability" in radar and communications data shortly after 3.30pm Eastern. The ground stop was issued at 3.54pm Eastern (8.54pm UK time). Duffy said about 3,500 aircraft were in the air at the time.

The decision was taken as a precaution while the stability of the systems was assessed. Aircraft already airborne were handled under air traffic control instructions, with some flights diverted or brought to alternative airports.

The FAA lifted the ground stop at 8.15pm Eastern, which was 1.15am on Saturday in the UK. Lifting the restriction did not immediately return airline operations to normal.

Duffy gave an explanation at a White House briefing on Friday evening.

He said switches and routers in the FAA's older telecommunications network became overloaded with data. That fed inconsistent radar and communications information to controllers across multiple centres and terminal radar approach control facilities (TRACONs).

Duffy said newer equipment held up, and that not all radar and communications were lost. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officials were looking at incompatibilities between the older equipment and newer technology being installed.

When communications and radar information cannot be relied upon, controllers cannot safely coordinate normal aircraft movements. The FAA therefore stopped departures while the problem was addressed.

Duffy said officials were still working on the details of what went wrong. The explanation given so far identifies the immediate technical problem, not the full chain of events behind it. A complete investigation into the underlying failure and contributing factors is a separate matter.

There was speculation about whether the incident involved a cyberattack.

Mullin said there was no indication that anything malicious was behind the ground stop, and officials said there was no evidence of a cyberattack. The investigation into the cause is continuing.

The incident should therefore be understood as a reported telecommunications and infrastructure failure, not a confirmed cyber incident.

The US air traffic control network coordinates aircraft movements across a large and busy national airspace.

Its communications infrastructure allows controllers to exchange information, coordinate aircraft between control regions and maintain safe separation. A failure affecting several control centres can have consequences well beyond the airports closest to the technical problem.

Once departures are stopped, aircraft and crews end up out of position. Flights are delayed, connections are missed and airlines may have to cancel later services, which is why disruption continued after the FAA lifted the restriction.

The Associated Press reported that at least 827 flights were diverted during the incident, and described it as the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years. Thousands more flights were delayed or cancelled.

The disruption extended beyond American domestic flights.

On Friday evening, Eurocontrol, the European air traffic management agency, issued a notice suspending departures for US airports from its member states between 22:00 UTC on 13 November and 05:00 UTC on 14 November, following a request from the FAA.

This included flights departing from the UK and other European countries during that period. It did not mean all flights between Britain and America were cancelled. The FAA said inbound international flights would be handled case by case, and aircraft already in the air continued to their destinations.

Passengers travelling in either direction still faced possible disruption as airlines adjusted their schedules.

British Airways cancelled a Heathrow to New York flight due to leave at 10.30pm on Friday, and Virgin Atlantic cancelled a Heathrow to New York JFK service.

On Saturday morning, Heathrow's website showed most departures running on schedule. An 8.20am flight to Dallas Fort Worth had been cancelled, along with a number of incoming flights from the US.

These are examples, not a complete list, and flight information can change throughout the day.

British Airways apologised for possible delays and cancellations.

Manchester Airport said it did not expect significant delays. It had three US flights on Saturday morning, to New York, Orlando and Atlanta, all operated by Virgin Atlantic.

Passengers travelling between the UK and US should check with their airline before heading to the airport.

The incident did not amount to a shutdown of Birmingham Airport.

However, people travelling from Birmingham to the United States could still be affected if their journey involved a connection through another UK or European airport. Passengers returning from the US could also see delays or changes to connecting flights.

The actual impact depends on the airline, route and individual booking. There is no basis for suggesting that all Birmingham passengers or all transatlantic connections were affected.

Anyone travelling over the coming days should check their flight status directly with their airline.

Beyond the immediate travel disruption, the incident has drawn attention to the technology supporting America's air traffic control system.

The explanation given by the US Transportation Secretary points to problems involving older telecommunications equipment and the challenges of maintaining legacy infrastructure while introducing newer systems.

It also demonstrates how a technical problem affecting critical communications can have consequences across an entire national aviation network. Reports describe this as only the second nationwide ground stop since the 11 September attacks. The first was in January 2023, when a failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions system halted domestic departures for about 90 minutes.

The incident has renewed calls from US officials for further investment in air traffic control modernisation. Duffy used the briefing to ask Congress for about $50 billion. That is a funding request, not approved spending.

However, the full technical investigation is needed to establish precisely why the equipment became overloaded and what measures will prevent a similar incident.

The FAA lifted the nationwide ground stop on Friday evening US time, and flights have resumed.

That does not mean every airline or route has returned to its original schedule. On Saturday, CNN reported that some US-bound departures from airports including Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt were showing as cancelled or delayed.

Passengers with upcoming flights between the UK and United States should check their airline's latest departure information before setting off.

For passengers already affected by a cancellation, the airline should be contacted directly about alternative arrangements.

The immediate ground stop is over, but its effects are still being felt across the aviation network.

Sources

Information in this article reflects official statements and reporting available on 14 November 2026. Flight schedules and disruption information may change.