US Flight Shutdown Highlights: All the departing flights in United States were briefly grounded on Friday due to an air traffic control 'communications issues', the Federal Aviation Administration said.
This was the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The other happened in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.
While dismissing the possibility of a cyberattack, US Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin told the media that authorities are still investigating the incident. "There was no indication, as of yet, that this was a nefarious attack against us. It's just a telecommunications outage, as of right now," Mullin said.
"This isn't another 9/11. I just can't repeat that enough," he added.
Here are the highlights on US flight shutdown:
US Flight Shutdown Live: Over 8,000 Flights Cancelled Across US Airports
Over 8,000 flights were cancelled across US airports amid nationwide shutdown. A look at the airports and the number of flights cancelled:
1. Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD): 722
2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): 691
3. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW): 491
4. LaGuardia Airport (LGA): 438
5. Denver International Airport (DEN): 423
6. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX): 335
7. San Francisco International Airport (SFO): 304
8. John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK): 301
9. Boston Logan International Airport (BOS): 280
10. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR): 255
11. Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD): 240
12. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA): 236
US Flight Shutdown Live: "Flight Outage Caused By Old Systems Getting Overloaded With Data," Says US Top Official
US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said that the flight outages were caused by "old systems getting overloaded with data", and that the US Congress did not fund a full package to get it replaced.
"Do you want Congress to fund this? President Trump has asked for the money. This is analog telecom. Our switches, our routers actually got overloaded with data, and they went down. And I shouldn't say they went down, they started to give us inconsistency in the data from those routers. And because of that, we shut the system down," he said.
Duffy added, "Give us the resources to build a state-of-the-art air traffic control system. Let's not do a patchwork fix to a system that's critical for every single family. It's not red, it's not red, it's not blue, it's not Democrat, it's not Republican, it's American. Give us the money to fix it."
US Nationwide Flight Shutdown Lifted
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted the nationwide flight ground stop as the Homeland Security said there was no threat to the public.
US Flight Shutdown Live: Air India Issues Advisory
Air India has issued an advisory to passengers amid the US' nationwide flight shutdown.
"A nationwide ground stop is currently in effect across the US due to communication outages affecting air traffic operations. As a result, departures from airports across US are impacted, with possible consequential disruptions to Air India flights to and from the US. Passengers are advised to check the latest status of their flights and plan their journey to the airport accordingly," it wrote in a post on X.
#TravelAdvisory A nationwide ground stop is currently in effect across the US due to communication outages affecting air traffic operations. As a result, departures from airports across US are impacted, with possible consequential disruptions to Air India flights to and from the U.S. Passengers are advised to check the latest status of their flights and plan their journey to the airport accordingly: https://t.co/5iUupOoKz2 Our teams continue to closely monitor the situation and will share updates as available.
— Air India (@airindia) November 14, 2026
US Flight Shutdown Live: Over 4,000 Flights Already Airborne As US Orders Nationwide Ground Stop
At 20:54 UTC, the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all flights departing for US airports due to an equipment outage. At the time, 4,042 flights destined for US airports were already airborne. Watch the next two hours of US air traffic. https://t.co/qbtzX7cMtc
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 13, 2026
US Flight Shutdown Live Updates: Homeland Security Chief Dismisses Cyberattack Threats
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin: Do we know what caused it yet? No. https://t.co/Kr25mmgqUp
— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 13, 2026
US Flight Shutdown Live Updates: American Airlines Flights To Face Disruptions For Rest Of The Day
American Airlines says flights are expected to face disruptions for the rest of the day due to the nationwide FAA ground stop, depending on how long it remains in effect. “It will be all hands-on deck across American to get customers on their way as soon as possible when the FAA lifts this ground stop.” Source: CNN
— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 13, 2026
US Flight Shutdown Live Updates: US Homeland Security Says No Indication Planes Grounded By Threat
US Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin on Friday said there was no indication the country was under threat after a ground stop was issued at airports nationwide.
But Mullin told reporters at the White House after meeting President Donald Trump that authorities were still investigating -- and did not rule out a possible cyberattack.
"There was no indication, as of yet, that this was a nefarious attack against us, it's just a telecommunication outage, as of right now," Mullin said.
US Flight Shutdown Live Updates: US Grounds All Departing Flights Due To Communication Breakdown
All the departing flights in United States have grounded on Friday due to an air traffic control 'communications issues', the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The Federal Aviation Administration "issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers," the agency said. "FAA technicians are investigating the issue."
Friday was the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The other happened in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.
