A passenger walks past a board displaying delayed flights at JFK International in New York City after the FAA issued a national ground stop “due to extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety” on Friday.
Angelina Katsanis/Reuters
Passengers are being taken off planes nationwide.
The FAA ordered all planes grounded.
The Transportation Secretary cited a “communications” issue at all air-traffic control centers.
It’s a bad time to be traveling.
Passengers are being deplaned, and flights are delayed after the FAA grounded every flight nationwide because of what it called “extraordinary circumstances.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the ground stop was ordered because of a “communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.”
“FAA technicians are investigating the issue,” Duffy wrote in a post on X.
As the ground stop became a multi-hour ordeal, passengers have begun to crowd boarding areas, have been asked to leave flights, and are scrambling to find their luggage.
‘All flights have been halted’
Passengers wait at McGhee Tyson Airport after the FAA issued a ground stop for all flights across the U.S. on Nov. 13.
Adam Sparks/News Sentinel/Reuters
Boarding areas began to fill up at airports across the country.
On Friday afternoon, the FAA said in a post on X that there has been a temporary telecommunications outage.
“Out of an abundance of caution, all flights have been halted,” said the FAA. “Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis.”
The exact cause remains unclear
A person stands in front of a departures board at Logan international airport after the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a national ground stop “due to extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety.”
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Flight boards are flashing red and orange across all major airports. Transportation officials have not yet said why they issued the ground stop.
The FAA is prepared to make a system update
Passengers wait inside the main terminal after the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a national ground stop “due to extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety” following the agency’s earlier report of serious air traffic control communications issues at Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia, US, November 13, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Heuer
Daniel Heuer/Reuters
In some airports, stranded passengers are congregating in terminals as security check lines grow longer.
Lines are growing in many airports
Queues are forming at the Salt Lake City airport after passengers were told to disembark a flight to Chicago.
Jon Lett
Jon Lett, a passenger who was traveling from the Salt Lake City Airport to Chicago, told Business Insider that everyone on his flight has been told to disembark and wait.
Lett said that, though the mood among passengers remains “chill,” there is no telling whether his flight will be able to depart anytime soon.
Planes are parked on the tarmac
Planes wait on the tarmac at Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, on November 13, 2026.
KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP via Getty Images
Photos show planes parked back-to-back at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
National ground stops are historically rare for the FAA.
In January 2023, the FAA halted flights because of an outage involving its pilot alert system. Before that, nationwide air traffic was halted following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Traffic outside the airports also began to pile up
Traffic piles up outside a terminal at Dulles International in Virginia after the FAA issued a national ground stop “due to extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety” on Friday.
Daniel Heuer/Reuters
Traffic outside airports began to pile up as the nationwide ground stop became a multi-hour emergency.
