FAA ground stop: all US flights halted after equipment outage

What does a ground stop mean?

An alert from the Air Traffic Control System Command Center says aircraft cannot take off from departure gates. It describes the disruption as "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety" and gives no more detail. Inbound international flights will be "managed on a case-by-case basis." The alert was no longer visible on the command center's website when this was written.

What caused the FAA outage?

Nobody has said yet. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X that "FAA technicians are investigating the issue." Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters outside the White House there is "no indication yet that this was a nefarious act," but warned that recovery "is going to take some time."

The timing is awkward. This week the administration rolled out an AI-powered tool for air traffic controllers, meant to save flight time and fuel costs. Whether the outage has anything to do with it is unclear, and officials have not suggested a link.

If you are flying today, check your airline's app for your flight's status. The only guidance so far is that departures stay grounded until the FAA says otherwise.