FAA Issues Rare Nationwide Ground Stop Amid Communications Outage
November 13 saw the Federal Aviation Administration order a nationwide ground stop at all U.S. airports, halting departing flights until further notice due to “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” The rare measure followed a communications issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs), the regional facilities that manage airspace between airports.
“Communication Issue”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the stop was issued “following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” with FAA technicians investigating. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reported no indication of a “nefarious attack,” describing it as a telecommunications outage. Planes already airborne were permitted to land, while international arrivals were handled case by case. The disruption affected thousands of flights, with early reports of substantial delays and cancellations.
This marked only the second nationwide ground stop since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The previous one occurred in January 2023 due to a failure in the Notice to Air Missions system. The current event began with localized issues, including equipment problems in Chicago, before expanding nationally around 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.
The SMART System
The outage coincided closely with the recent nationwide expansion of the FAA’s SMART system (Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories). Developed by Air Space Intelligence under a multi-year contract, SMART is a cloud-based platform that integrates roughly 200 data streams, including weather, flight paths, traffic flow, and controller staffing metrics. Its AI-supported tools aim to predict congestion, enable proactive routing and scheduling adjustments, reduce delays, lower fuel use, and improve efficiency.
The system began limited operations in the Washington, D.C., area in September 2026, and was expanded to all 22 ARTCCs in the days leading up to the outage, with early reports of successful flight reroutes yielding time and fuel savings. Officials have emphasized that SMART provides decision-support data reviewed by human specialists and does not independently control aircraft or replace controllers.
Travelers faced widespread disruption on Friday afternoon, with airports advising passengers to check airline status for updates. As of late Friday, the stop remained in effect while investigators worked to restore full communications capabilities and determine the root cause.
