Breaking: All US flights grounded nationwide over major communications issue

For only the second time since the 9/11 attacks, all flights in the United States have been ground to a halt. US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy says that the ground-stop was ordered over a communications issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centres. No additional information has been shared at the time of publication as to the nature of the issue.

Flights bound for the US are no longer allowed to depart. Although international flights that have already departed would already be en-route, the FAA says they will be managed on a “case by case basis.”

Flights grounded over a “communications issue”

In its statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said: “Due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety. Attention all aircraft operators, by order of the Federal Aviation Command Center all airports are ground stopped. All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice. Inbound international flights will be managed on a case by case basis.”

The body initially ordered all flights from Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports to be suspended at 14:10 local time over an “equipment outage.” At 14:54, the ground stop was extended nationwide.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said: “The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”

The last time flights were brought to a complete stop in the United States was on 11 January 2023, when the FAA halted all domestic operations between 07:30 and 09:00 in the morning due to a system outage.

Heavy disruption

Amid the ground-stop, Flightradar24 data shows just over 3,100 flights are bound for the United States. Thousands have already been delayed or cancelled as a result of the order from the FAA.

Information from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows 26,284 flights are scheduled to depart today from the United States of which 11,000 are still planned. 481 are listed a scancelled at the time of publication, though this number will increase exponentially as airlines adjust schedules to accommodate the FAA’s instruction.

A source on the ground at Chicago O’Hare tells Aerospace Global News that baggage is still being loaded onto aircraft, noting significant queues of planes across the airfield. Departure and arrival boards have not updated to account for disruption yet.

Aircraft currently at the gates remain stationary, while passengers on other planes remain stranded on aircraft parked elsewhere across the airport.