Washington, November 14, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a nationwide ground stop on departing flights in the United States following a communication outage at regional air traffic control centres, citing safety concerns.
The restriction was announced on Friday afternoon, with an official advisory directing airlines and aircraft operators to keep departing flights on the ground until further notice. The FAA said inbound international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that FAA technicians were investigating the disruption. The advisory described the situation as involving “extraordinary circumstances” and said the measure was necessary for safety reasons.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication that the communication failure had resulted from a deliberate attack. He described it as a telecommunications outage and said officials had found no evidence of malicious activity.
Airlines moved to inform passengers about the disruption. United Airlines said domestic departures would remain grounded, while international departures would be managed separately in accordance with FAA directions.
American Airlines warned that passengers could experience disruptions for the rest of the day, adding that its teams would work to resume normal operations as soon as the FAA lifted the restriction.
The nationwide ground stop was an unusual measure. The last comparable action was in January 2023, when a malfunction in a key FAA computer system disrupted flights across the country. Before that, a nationwide ground stop had been imposed following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
According to the FAA notification, the restriction was scheduled to remain in effect until at least 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday.
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