3 Times Nationwide Ground Stops Have Affected US Flights

In the late afternoon of November 13, 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop for all flights departing from airports in the U.S. due to what NBC News reported as "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." While incoming international flights were being handled on a case-by-case basis, anyone expecting to depart from a U.S. airport faced potentially significant delays for the time being.

The issue was already affecting Chicago's O'Hare and Midway International airports; just before the nationwide ground stop was issued, both airports were placed under ground stops. At the time of this writing, the nationwide ground stop was attributed to "communication problems" affecting air traffic control centers across the country. Officials said there was no indication that the outage was caused by a malicious attack. However, the communication problems significantly disrupted air traffic control operations, prompting the FAA to halt departures as a safety precaution.

The nationwide ground stop began at 3:54 p.m. ET, when more than 4,000 flights were already in the air headed toward U.S. airports.

The FAA finally lifted the ground stop Friday night after more than four hours, but delays and cancellations are expected to continue as airlines worked to get aircraft and crews back into position.

Prior to November 13, 2026, the U.S. had only experienced two nationwide ground stops: one on January 11, 2023, and the first on September 11, 2001. In 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration's Notice to Air Missions system failed overnight, prompting a nationwide ground stop that wasn't lifted until shortly after 9 a.m. The 2026 ground stop was similar in that it stemmed from a technical problem and was imposed for safety reasons, with officials saying there was no indication of a malicious attack.

The 2023 ground stop lasted under two hours, but airlines were dealing with delays and cancellations long after departures were allowed to resume.

The first nationwide ground stop occurred in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In that case, the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop at 9:25 a.m. ET and ordered all aircraft already in the air to land at the nearest airport at 9:45 a.m. At the time of the 9:45 a.m. order, around 4,500 aircraft were in the air. By 12:15 p.m., the airspace over the 48 contiguous states had been finally cleared of all commercial and private flights.

Commercial airspace then began reopening at 11 a.m. ET on September 13 under heightened security restrictions. You can watch an eerie video of the airspace over the U.S. clearing out that day on the official National Air and Space Museum website. 

Fortunately, the November 13 ground stop was far shorter-lived. It has since been lifted, though flight delays and cancellations may continue.