[VT | November 13, 2026 | Philadelphia PA]
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a nationwide ground stop at 3:54 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 13, halting departures at every U.S. airport after communication issues hit Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs). The order was lifted at 8:15 p.m. It was the second nationwide ground stop since Sept. 11, 2001. The previous one, in January 2023, followed a failure of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system.
What officials said
At a White House briefing, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said radar and communications at ARTCCs and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities became unstable at 3:36 p.m. He attributed the instability to legacy TDM analog telecommunications: switches and routers overloaded with data and began returning inconsistent data. Newer IP-based equipment was not affected, Duffy said.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a cyberattack and no link to a Microsoft outage the previous day. More than 3,500 aircraft were airborne when the stop began, and all landed safely.
Impact
FlightAware data showed nearly 5,000 U.S. flight cancellations on Friday and nearly 800 already listed for Saturday. United Airlines canceled most of its remaining Friday flights except some international departures. JetBlue canceled all remaining Friday flights except Europe-bound departures from JFK and Boston. Air Canada canceled its remaining U.S.–Canada flights for the evening.
Funding
Hours before the ground stop, Duffy and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought sent a letter urging Congress to approve $30.1 billion in additional funding for air traffic control and airports. The letter renewed a roughly $30 billion request Duffy first made on Sept. 22. It was addressed to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and to House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).
The request breaks down as follows:
- $10.1 billion for air traffic control technology, including $7.2 billion for a common automation platform and controller workstations and $2 billion for cloud computing and telecommunications infrastructure
- $2 billion to replace or improve FAA control towers
- $18 billion for airport projects, including $10 billion to modernize or replace terminals
The letter states that the FAA has replaced 68% of its legacy copper telecommunications network with fiber.
The new request would come on top of the $12.5 billion Congress approved in July 2025, bringing the combined total to about $42.6 billion. The administration is seeking approval before the new Congress convenes in January 2027.
After the ground stop was lifted, Duffy said at the White House briefing that the $30 billion request was not enough and called on Congress to provide $50 billion in emergency funding. Mullin said a complete overhaul of the air traffic control system would cost about $50 billion. No formal appropriations request or breakdown for the $50 billion has been released.
Cover image: Screenshot taken between 9 and 10 p.m. ET on Nov. 13, 2026, after the ground stop was lifted and departures had resumed.
