FAA Outage Grounds US Departures, Over 12,500 Flights Canceled

A telecommunications failure in the U.S. air traffic control system led the Federal Aviation Administration to stop departing flights across the entire country on Friday, Nov. 13, according to a first-hand account published by Insider. Officials said the problem was affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers, and the disruption canceled more than 12,500 flights and left thousands of passengers and crews out of position, Insider reported.

The FAA later lifted the nationwide ground stop and departures began to resume slowly, but delays had already spread across the country. The exact cause of the telecommunications issue has not been disclosed.

What failed in the air traffic control system

Air Route Traffic Control Centers are regional facilities. They guide aircraft at higher altitudes on the stretch between airports. According to Insider, officials said a telecommunications problem was hitting these centers, and the FAA responded by freezing departures nationwide.

Officials said they did not believe the outage came from AI or a cyberattack, the outlet reported. No other cause had been announced.

Flights already in the air were cleared to continue to their destinations and land. Officials later said pilots, controllers and dispatchers have several backup methods and digital tools for staying in contact, and that pilots are trained to navigate and land without communications, according to Insider.

A rare nationwide ground stop

Before Friday, the FAA had ordered a ground stop for the whole country only twice in modern history, Insider reported: after the September 11 terrorist attacks and in January 2023, when a pilot-alert system failed.

The outage came a day after widespread disruptions on Microsoft’s cloud services, and on the same day as earlier data problems at the National Weather Service, the outlet noted.

What it means for stranded travelers

The Insider reporter was flying from Curaçao to Salt Lake City through Miami when the captain confirmed the ground stop about 40 minutes before landing.

• At Miami International Airport, inbound planes kept arriving while outbound ones stayed at their gates, so ramp space filled up and the reporter’s plane waited on the tarmac for about two hours before passengers could get off.
• Around 7:30 p.m., rebooking options started to show up in the American Airlines app. Most of them left the next evening and involved 12- to 14-hour trips with several connections.
• One direct flight, departing at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday, had only a few seats left when the reporter booked it.
• Airport-area hotels sold out as travelers booked from their seats. A Midtown Miami hotel went from about 40% full at 5 p.m. local time to sold out by 9 p.m., its front desk told the reporter, who paid $621 for one night.

The reporter wrote that the airline was not required to help with costs, because the disruption was outside its control, and that travel insurance might not cover the hotel. Other travelers had flights canceled before leaving home, or were stuck at connecting airports such as Houston.

Checking your own flight

Departures were coming back gradually after the FAA lifted the order, but displaced planes and crews kept delays going. Travelers can check their airline’s app for rebooking options, as passengers in Miami did once new itineraries started to load.

Source: Insider