FAA Ground Stop Halts US Flights: 10,343 Delays, 1,479 Cancellations

The Federal Aviation Administration stopped flights across the United States on Friday afternoon, leaving passengers stuck at gates, on planes and in terminals nationwide. An FAA notice blamed communications problems at regional air traffic control centers. About four hours later, the agency sent an advisory lifting the ground stop.

The disruption kept going after the stop ended. FlightAware counted 10,343 delays and 1,479 cancellations on flights within, into or out of the U.S., and Flightradar24 reported that more than 1,000 aircraft were headed for the country when the order was announced.

How the ground stop played out at JFK

At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, some travelers had their trips canceled after they had already boarded. Steve Honberger, flying home to Portland, Oregon, with his wife and daughter, told The Guardian his plane was about to take off when the stop was announced. It stayed at the gate for an hour and 40 minutes before the family asked to get off and rebook. They found a hotel for the night.

Plenty of travelers came to the airport anyway, with no clear answer on when departures would restart. One passenger bound for Miami said his airline had told him the flight might leave at 10 or 11 p.m. A man traveling with a show dog to Finland said the delay was eating into a three-day trip.

International flights got moving first. A flight attendant on an American Airlines flight to Barcelona said incoming international flights were being allowed to land, and later in the day passengers on international departures began boarding while people at the gates applauded. An airline representative at JFK said only international flights were going at that point.

Confusion after flights resumed

Lifting the stop did not end the problems. Larson Welsh, flying to Las Vegas from Paris, said his flight was canceled, then a kiosk showed him on a 3 a.m. departure, and staff at the desk had no information. Another traveler, who gave only his first name, said his flight to California was canceled without any rebooking offer, a night after bad weather had canceled his previous flight. He said he would miss a family event.

The stop also scattered sports schedules ahead of a busy weekend. NBA, NHL and college teams were stranded while trying to reach their games, and it was unclear whether referees, who usually fly in the day before, would arrive in time.

What it means for travelers

A national ground stop is rare. There have been only two before this one: on Sept. 11, 2001, after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and in January 2023, after a communications failure.

For travelers, the effects reached well past the four hours the order was in force. Planes and crews ended up out of position, so many people faced rebooked departures in the middle of the night, overnight stays near the airport or cancellations with no new flight assigned. Domestic passengers waited longer than those on international routes, which restarted first at JFK.

The FAA has cited communications problems at regional air traffic control centers as the cause. It has not given further details on what failed.

Source: The Guardian