US grounds flights nationwide after air traffic control communications outage

The US Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights nationwide on Friday after a ‌communications failure hit air traffic control centers across the country, disrupting thousands of flights. The announcement means planes in the air may land, but those on the ground cannot take off. Flight ‌tracking service FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or cancelled due to the nationwide ground ‌stop.

“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,” ⁠Transportation Secretary ​Sean Duffy said. The ⁠disruption is the latest sign of strain on the US air traffic control system, which has been beset ⁠by equipment failures, communications problems and shortages of controllers while the FAA tries to replace aging infrastructure. Congress approved $12.5 ​billion for the overhaul last year, and the FAA and White House asked lawmakers ⁠on Friday for another $30.1 billion.

Shortly before the announcement, the FAA halted traffic in Chicago due to air traffic control ⁠communications ​issues. The agency said, "All departing traffic should remain groundstopped until further notice." The FAA said it would manage international flights on a case-by-case basis. Friday's halt was the second nationwide ground ⁠stop of all departures since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The other happened in January 2023, ⁠when the FAA ⁠paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.