# FAA lifts third nationwide ground stop

> A telecommunications outage halted all US departures for hours Friday, affecting over a million travelers and prompting warnings of more disruptions ahead.
- Title: FAA lifts third nationwide ground stop · Ars Technica
- Summary: A telecommunications outage halted all US departures for hours Friday, affecting over a million travelers and prompting warnings of more disruptions ahead.
- Keywords: faa, ground stop, air traffic control, telecommunications outage, sean duffy, markwayne mullin, domestic flights, airline cancellations, Ars Technica
- Source: Ars Technica — https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/11/faa-orders-third-nationwide-ground-stop-in-its-history
- Published: 2026-11-13T23:17:38+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: faa, ground stop, air traffic control, telecommunications outage, sean duffy, markwayne mullin, domestic flights, airline cancellations, technology, science
## Ground stop halts all US departures
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop at three thirty-six pm EST Friday afternoon, halting departures from all US airports. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cited a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
## Over a million travelers affected
Over a million travelers were affected by the delays. Airlines including Air Canada cancelled all flights to and from the United States for the remainder of the evening, with American Airlines warning of disruptions for…
## No security threat, says DHS
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the ground stop was not prompted by a security threat. He called it a telecommunications outage and said there was no indication of a nefarious attack.

> There's no indication as of yet that this is a nefarious attack against us.
## System needs urgent modernisation
The FAA lifted the ground stop at eight thirty-five pm EST. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that barring massive system updates, there will be more of these stoppages, citing decades-old analog equipment that cannot compete…

> Today's nationwide ground stop happened because our air traffic control system is operating on DECADES-OLD analog equipment that simply cannot compete with the demands of the 21st century.
## Key takeaway

The FAA lifted a nationwide ground stop after several hours Friday evening, affecting over a million travelers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned the aging air traffic control system will cause more stoppages without major upgrades.