FAA halts every U.S. departure after air traffic control outage, stranding Florida travelers

The Federal Aviation Administration stopped every departing flight at U.S. airports shortly after 4 p.m. Eastern time Friday, Nov. 13, after a telecommunications outage hit the regional centers that guide planes between airports. Departures stopped at Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and every other Florida airport, which could still take in flights already in the air. As of 7 p.m. Eastern, the FAA had not lifted the order for domestic flights and had given no firm time for a full restart.

The agency said it acted "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." It is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, and only the second since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to The Associated Press.

What the FAA and the White House said

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the stop on X at 4:16 p.m., writing that the FAA "issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." He said FAA technicians were investigating. The FAA's own statement described a "temporary telecommunications outage," said departures were halted out of an abundance of caution, and said every flight had been accounted for.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House there was no indication of a "nefarious attack." He called it a telecommunications outage, said resolving it would take some time, and told families: "Everybody's safe. There's no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they're flying."

Shortly after 6 p.m., the FAA said the stop remained in effect but that "as enroute facilities recover, flights will be allowed to depart through coordination with the air traffic control system command center." That process had begun for some routes by early evening, mostly long international flights and flights to Hawaii and Asia.

How the evening unfolded

The timeline below draws on statements from the FAA and the Transportation Department and on reporting by CNBC, Yahoo News and NBC News. All times are Eastern.

What Florida airports are telling travelers

Miami International Airport issued the bluntest warning in the state. Because of the nationwide FAA outage, the airport said, travelers are "strongly urged NOT to come to MIA" until their airline has confirmed the flight is operating and sent updated travel instructions.

Orlando International Airport said it was still receiving arrivals that were already en route but had no departures, and that all of its flights were delayed. The airport said about 220 departures were scheduled between 3:30 p.m. and midnight. It asked passengers to check with their airlines for new departure times, according to WKMG News 6.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International said inbound flights were expected to land but departures were halted until further notice, and that delays and cancellations would depend on how long the stop lasted. By early evening the airport was so full that an FAA notice closed it to diverted aircraft from 6:23 p.m. Friday until 4 a.m. Saturday, telling crews to contact airport management. NBC 6 South Florida, citing FlightAware, counted hundreds of delays at Miami and Fort Lauderdale by 4:30 p.m.

Smaller airports were caught too. Daytona Beach International said five arriving flights and three departing flights were affected, and that its terminal and concessions stayed open.

What may have caused it

Officials have not named a cause beyond a communications failure. CBS News, citing multiple sources, reported that an update to the private communications network that links the air traffic control system caused a reboot, then a crash and the outage. CBS and The Wall Street Journal both reported that the network involved is run by L3Harris Technologies, the defense and communications contractor headquartered in Melbourne, Florida. L3Harris did not respond to a CBS News request for comment.

Investigators will also examine whether the outage is tied to the FAA's nationwide rollout of a new artificial intelligence system that helps spot problems and reroute planes, Mullin said. That system runs from one location near Washington and only sends recommendations to the control centers, the AP reported. Its developer, Air Space Intelligence, told NBC News its software did not cause the stop.

The 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers handle planes at cruising altitude between airports. Two of them sit in Florida, in Hilliard outside Jacksonville and in Miami, and together they cover most of the state's airspace. Pilots could likely still talk to controllers in airport towers, aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo told the AP, which is part of what separated Friday's stop from the one after Sept. 11. But without reliable links to the en route centers, he said, "you've got to stop airplanes on the ground."

The national picture

When the stop began, about 3,100 aircraft were in the air headed to U.S. airports, according to Flightradar24 data cited by CBS News. Those flights were allowed to land. About 11,000 flights had been scheduled to leave U.S. airports after 4 p.m., according to the aviation data firm Cirium, so cancellations were expected to keep climbing through the night.

Some flying never stopped. Alaska Airlines said flights within Hawaii and Alaska and its longer Honolulu routes continued, and Hawaii's Transportation Department later said Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines had resumed their West Coast flights. International departures also began leaving Boston, Philadelphia and West Coast airports in the early evening. Cargo carriers including FedEx said they were monitoring the stop, and NBC News reported pro and college sports teams stranded at airports ahead of weekend games.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois called for an inquiry, writing that "whatever led to the nationwide ground stop will warrant a thorough and complete investigation."

A system Washington has been trying to replace

Friday's failure lands on an air traffic control network that federal officials have called outdated for years. Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to modernize it, including replacing miles of old copper wire with fiber optic lines, the AP reported, and Duffy has said another $30 billion is needed. The White House has started lobbying Congress for that money.

The outage also follows smaller failures this year. In September, an accidental cut to a Verizon fiber cable during construction in New Jersey disrupted hundreds of flights into Newark and Philadelphia, CNBC reported. The last nationwide stop, in January 2023, came after the Notice to Air Missions system failed overnight, and departures resumed gradually by mid-morning.

What Florida travelers should do now

• Check your airline's app or website before leaving for the airport. Miami and Fort Lauderdale both told passengers not to come until their flight is confirmed.
• Look for a change-fee waiver. Delta and United issued waivers Friday, according to ABC News, and American Airlines said it would be "all hands on deck" to move customers once the FAA lifts the stop.
• Know the refund rule. Under federal rules, when an airline cancels a flight and you choose not to travel, you are owed a cash refund, whatever the cause. Airline promises of meals and hotels generally cover delays the airline caused, and an FAA outage usually falls outside them.
• Expect knock-on delays Saturday. Planes and crews will end the night out of position, and recovery after the 2023 stop took most of a day.

What's next

The FAA says it will release departures as each en route center recovers rather than lift the stop all at once, so Florida airports may restart at different times. Airlines for America, the industry's trade group, told travelers to contact their airlines for real-time updates. The cause, including the reported network update at L3Harris and any link to the new AI system, is now the subject of federal investigation, and Congress is likely to ask questions next week. The Florida Press will update this story as flights resume.