US aviation regulator halts all departures nationwide on Friday

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees air traffic in the country, stopped departures from all American airports on Friday afternoon. The order came a few days after the agency expanded its use of an artificial intelligence tool.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on X that the cause was a “communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.” He promised updates as more becomes known and said FAA staff were working to resolve the problem.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said a security threat did not prompt the halt. In his words, the FAA is dealing with a telecommunications outage, and flights were grounded out of caution. He added that there is no indication so far of an attack on the United States.

The FAA will handle incoming international flights case by case.

A rare measure

This is only the third time the FAA has ordered a nationwide ground stop. The first came during the September 11, 2001 attacks, when all civilian departures were halted and airborne aircraft were later ordered to land. Commercial flights did not resume until September 13. The second occurred on the morning of January 11, 2023, and lasted less than two hours after the FAA's Notice to Air Missions system, which informs pilots of conditions and restrictions, suffered an outage.

Impact on travelers

Based on what is known so far, the stoppage is likely to be lengthy. Airlines have already canceled flights scheduled to depart later on Friday, and American Airlines warned of disruptions for the rest of the day.

Mullin said the process will take time, but that all flights are accounted for and the public has no reason to fear.