• Ground stop: All flights in the United States are grounded until further notice, “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” the Federal Aviation Administration said. An FAA spokesperson said there is a communications problem impacting Air Route Traffic Control Centres, which handle flights going across the country.
• What officials are saying: The Homeland Security secretary said the ground stop did not stem from a threat to the US, and preliminary reports indicate this was not a cyberattack, law enforcement sources told CNN. President Donald Trump has been briefed.
• Rare instance: The last time there was a nationwide ground stop was in January 2023, when a pilot notification system went down. Before that, the last nationwide ground stop was issued after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the nationwide ground stop today was caused by a “temporary telecommunications outage.”
The statement comes about an hour after Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced the ground stop.
The agency said “out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted.”
All flights have been accounted for and international flights “will be handled on a case by case basis,” the FAA said.
American Airlines flights are expected to face disruptions for the rest of the day depending on how long the nationwide ground stop currently in effect will last, the company said in a statement.
“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,” American Airlines said.
Flights already in the air can still continue to their destinations, the company added.
