US lifts nationwide flight shutdown caused by communications failure

[WASHINGTON] The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop on Friday (Nov 13) after a communications failure at air traffic control centers caused chaos at airports and triggered the longest nationwide shutdown since the Sep 11, 2001, attacks.

More than 4,700 flights were cancelled and 10,000 delayed on Friday, while another 700 had already been cancelled for Saturday, according to FlightRadar24. Aviation analysts said it could take days for airlines to restore their schedules after a nationwide grounding that lasted more than four hours.

The Department of Homeland Security said there were no signs the outage was caused by a cyberattack.

The failure is the latest and most dramatic sign of strain on a US air traffic control system beset by equipment and communications problems, controller shortages and aging infrastructure.

The only other nationwide ground stop since the Sep 11 attacks came in January 2023, when the FAA halted domestic departures for around 90 minutes. REUTERS