From 20:54 UK time on Friday 13 November until 01:19 on Saturday 14 November, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) held departing flights on the ground at airports across the United States, after what it calls communication issues affecting its air traffic control centres. This page sets out what happened in UK time, using the FAA's own advisories and statements, the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the BBC, and what it means for UK businesses with people or goods travelling to or from the US.
Live status
Ground stop lifted
Last updated UK, Sat 14 Nov
The FAA cancelled the nationwide ground stop at 01:19 UK on Saturday 14 November, 4 hours and 25 minutes after its first notice. Flights can depart again, but the problem will persist for a few days, the BBC reports: check your flight with your airline before you travel.
- FAA status
- Nationwide ground stop cancelledLatest FAA update: UK
- What the FAA says
The FAA command center nationwide ground stop has been cancelled.
From the FAA command centre's advisory, shown here in normal case.- Official updates
- FAA operations plan advisory, FAA airport status and the FAA's statement. For your own flight, your airline.
Timeline, in UK time
Newest first. Each entry links to its source; entries marked FAA are the FAA's own words or advisories, and entries marked UK come from UK official bodies. The status box above refreshes from the FAA's own feeds.
Duffy: old legacy equipment failed. At a White House briefing, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says: “What went down was old. It was old legacy equipment that failed.” He says routers got “overloaded with data”, the BBC reports. Source: BBC News live.
Airspace reopened, disruption to last for days. Duffy says the airspace was reopened at 8:15pm Eastern time, which is 01:15 in the UK, and adds: “It's going to take us some time to unwind what's happened this afternoon.” The BBC reports the problem will persist for a few days. Source: BBC News live.
Not linked to the Microsoft outage. At the White House briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin dismisses claims that the outage has anything to do with Thursday's Microsoft outage, and says “no one was ever at risk”, the BBC reports. Source: BBC News live.
- FAA
FAA cancels the nationwide ground stop. Advisory 005, “CNX nationwide ground stop”: “The FAA command center nationwide ground stop has been cancelled.” That is 4 hours and 25 minutes after the first advisory. Source: FAA advisory 005, FAA advisories, 14 November.
- FAA
The FAA's statement. “The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue.” Source: FAA statement.
- UK
UK regulator: check with your airline. The Civil Aviation Authority says it is “aware that flights to, from and within the United States are experiencing disruption”, and advises passengers due to travel to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling. Source: Civil Aviation Authority.
- FAA
Still a national stop. The FAA's airport status feed still lists a national stop for departures from Atlanta, with departure delays of three hours and rising. The FAA's operations plan page showed no plan at that moment. Source: FAA airport status, FAA operations plan advisory.
The longest since 2001. The BBC reports the stop is still in effect, and that it is only the second time, and the longest, that such a stop has been issued since right after the 11 September 2001 attacks. Source: BBC News live.
Some departures cleared at San Francisco. San Francisco International Airport says “Pacific-bound flights are now cleared to depart from SFO, including destinations in Hawaii and Asia”, the BBC reports. Source: BBC News live.
Flights to the US from Europe suspended. The BBC reports that, according to Eurocontrol's website, all US-bound air traffic from Eurocontrol's member states, which include the UK, has been suspended “on request of the FAA due to technical issues”. Source: BBC News live.
- FAA
FAA: the stop stays, the reason is a communications failure. Advisory 120, “Nationwide ground stop”, gives the reason as “communications failure” and says: “The FAA command center ground stop remains in effect. As enroute facilities recover, flights will be allowed to depart through coordination with the Air Traffic Control System Command Center.” Source: FAA advisory 120, FAA advisories, 13 November.
- FAA
FAA: a telecommunications outage. The FAA says: “There has been a temporary telecommunications outage - out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis.” Source: BBC News live, quoting the FAA.
- FAA
FAA advisory: holding at all airports. Another FAA advisory (116) tells airlines to expect planes to be held in the air before landing at “any and all airports” in the US system, because of equipment outages, from 21:00 on Friday to 03:00 on Saturday UK time. Source: FAA advisory 116.
- FAA
FAA orders a national ground stop. The FAA's command centre issues advisory 111, “National ground stop”: “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.” Source: FAA advisory 111, FAA advisories, 13 November.
What it means in the UK
During the stop, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said it was “aware that flights to, from and within the United States are experiencing disruption”. Its advice to anyone due to travel is to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling.
Flights from the UK to the US were affected as well as flights inside America. The BBC reported that, according to Eurocontrol, all US-bound air traffic from its member states, which include the UK, was suspended “on request of the FAA due to technical issues”. The FAA itself said international flights “will be handled on a case by case basis”.
What is not known yet: how many flights between the UK and the US were cancelled, when UK airlines expect to fly a normal timetable again, and how long air freight between the two countries will be held up. We haven't found an official figure for any of these yet.
What a UK business can do today
- Check each flight with the airline. That is the Civil Aviation Authority's advice. Use the airline's own app or website, not a link someone sends you, and don't send anyone to the airport until the airline confirms the flight.
- Find your people. List anyone on your team who is in the US or due to fly there or back this weekend. Agree how they'll keep you updated, and give them permission to book an extra night if they need one.
- Move meetings online. If a client visit or trade show depends on a flight, offer a video call now rather than cancelling on the day.
- Warn customers about shipments. If you send or receive goods by air between the UK and the US, ask your courier or freight forwarder what they know before you promise a delivery date, and tell affected customers early.
- Keep receipts and know your rights. The Civil Aviation Authority sets out what passengers are entitled to when a flight is delayed or cancelled on its delays and cancellations page. Keep receipts for meals, hotels and new tickets.
The lesson for a small business
The FAA's own statement doesn't say what failed, and one of its advisories gives the reason simply as “communications failure”. At a White House briefing, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said “It was old legacy equipment that failed” and that routers got “overloaded with data”, the BBC reports. What is already clear is how much depends on communications: when communication issues hit its air traffic control centres, the FAA halted flights across the whole country “out of an abundance of caution”, in its own words.
The BBC notes that US air traffic control systems are “notoriously antiquated”. Congress approved $12.5bn (£9.5bn) for upgrades last year, and a couple of weeks ago the FAA pledged to replace systems that still rely on floppy discs by the end of 2028.
This is the second big technology failure in two days. On Thursday evening, the global Microsoft 365 outage disrupted Outlook email. US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin dismissed claims that the two are connected, the BBC reports. The lessons for a small business are the same:
- Know where one supplier can stop you. List the systems and suppliers that, if they failed for a day, would stop you selling, delivering or getting paid.
- Have a manual way through. A printed contact list, a phone number that works, a way to take an order without the usual system.
- Write plan B before you need it. Who tells customers, who looks after staff who are stuck, and what the website says. Ten minutes now can save a lost day later.
- Replace what is fragile before it fails. Old systems keep working until the day they don't. Upgrading on your own schedule is usually cheaper than fixing in a crisis.
In our experience, none of this needs a big budget. It mostly needs someone to look at where a single system or supplier sits in your daily work. If this week showed you a weak spot, we can look at it with you and what a simple fallback would take.
Questions people are asking
Why were flights grounded across the US?
The FAA says it issued the nationwide ground stop “following communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers”, and has described it as “a temporary telecommunications outage”. One of its own advisories gives the reason as “communications failure”. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's statement, quoted by The Register, said all the centres were affected. At a White House briefing after the stop was lifted, Duffy said “It was old legacy equipment that failed” and that routers got “overloaded with data”, the BBC reports.
Was it a cyber attack?
Officials say they have seen no sign of one. The BBC reports that the US Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, said there was “zero evidence that this is a cyber attack”, and that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said old equipment failed. The FAA has described the cause as a telecommunications outage.
When will US flights take off again?
They can again: the FAA cancelled the nationwide ground stop at 01:19 UK on Sat 14 Nov. The BBC reports the problem will persist for a few days, so check your flight with your airline before you travel.
Were flights between the UK and the US affected?
Yes. During the stop, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said flights to, from and within the United States were experiencing disruption, and advised passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling. The BBC reported that, according to Eurocontrol, all US-bound air traffic from its member states, which include the UK, was suspended at the FAA's request. The BBC reports the problem will persist for a few days.
Has this happened before?
The BBC reports that this is only the second time, and the longest, that such a stop has been issued since right after the 11 September 2001 attacks.
Sources
- FAA statement on nationwide ground stop, Federal Aviation Administration, 13 November 2026
- Advisory 111: national ground stop, FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center, 13 November 2026
- Advisory 116: nationwide airborne holding, FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center, 13 November 2026
- Advisory 120: nationwide ground stop, FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center, 13 November 2026
- Advisory 005: nationwide ground stop cancelled, FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center, 14 November 2026
- Command centre advisories, 13 November 2026, FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center
- Command centre advisories, 14 November 2026, FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center
- Current operations plan advisory, FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center
- National airspace system status, FAA
- Flight delays and cancellations, UK Civil Aviation Authority, read 14 November 2026
- BBC News live page on the US ground stop, BBC News, 13 and 14 November 2026
- All US flights grounded by FAA, The Register, 13 November 2026