FAA Lifts Nationwide Ground Stop After Telecommunications Outage Halts US Air Travel
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted a nationwide ground stop that halted flights across the United States. The rare airspace shutdown, triggered by a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control centers, stranded thousands of passengers at airports nationwide and disrupted international connections, including flights to and from Canada.
The emergency halt—which marked a rare nationwide grounding of departures—prompted federal officials to clarify that preliminary reports indicated no known security threat or cyberattack. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed the incident was unrelated to a separate Microsoft tech outage. While the FAA has lifted the ground stop allowing airlines to resume operations, officials warn that residual delays and cancellations are expected to stretch into the weekend as carriers work to clear backlogs and reposition stranded aircraft.
Transportation authorities and airline operators continue to advise travelers to check their flight statuses directly before heading to airports as normal schedules gradually resume.
