FAA ground stop halts all US departures until further notice

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights in the United States on Friday afternoon because of communications problems at regional air traffic control centers, citing “extraordinary circumstances” and safety concerns.

Flights will remain grounded until further notice, according to an FAA advisory. Inbound international flights will be handled case by case.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a communications issue is affecting the 22 regional centers that direct planes between airports nationwide, and FAA technicians are investigating, The Associated Press reported. The order followed radio frequency and radar outages at several of those centers.

Earlier Friday, the agency had stopped departures at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway international airports because of an equipment outage. Before the nationwide order, the FAA reported equipment-related departure delays at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and other major airports.

Sky Harbor officials confirmed Friday that the airport is affected by the nationwide ground stop and referred questions to the FAA.

“We strongly recommend passengers and people picking up loved ones confirm their flight status with their airline before heading to the airport to be apprised of updates impacting their flights,” Gregory E. Roybal, the airport’s public information manager, said in a statement.

Planes already in the air continued to land in Phoenix. As of 3:13 p.m. Friday, Sky Harbor’s arrivals board showed that 32 of 36 flights scheduled to arrive between 8:15 a.m. and 1:49 p.m. had landed. Among the four still pending were American Airlines flights from St. George, Utah, and Yuma, both now expected after 4 p.m.

It is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that, the last one came after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The government has been working to replace the outdated technology air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12.5 billion for the project last year. Crews have replaced miles of old copper wire with fiber optic lines and are gradually swapping out old radio systems at airports across the country. Duffy has said another $30 billion will be needed to finish the work, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress for it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a developing story.

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