UPDATED 2:15PM PAC TIME FRI NOV 13
The nationwide ground stop remains in effect with no time set for flights to resume. The FAA’s order still reads “until further notice,” more than an hour after it took effect.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters there is no indication yet that the failure “was a nefarious attack against us.” “It’s just a telecommunications outage as of now,” Mullin said, adding that the federal government will look into the root of the problem. An internal Alaska Airlines message seen by CNBC said the trouble involves both communications and radar problems.
The outage is hitting the FAA’s 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers, the facilities that guide planes across the country at cruising altitude. That includes the Los Angeles center in Palmdale that handles Southern California. FlightAware reported thousands of flight disruptions nationwide Friday afternoon. United Airlines said flights already in the air will continue to their destinations. The longer the stop lasts, the worse the backlog will get. Flight crews run up against their legal limits on daily duty hours, forcing more cancellations into the night and Saturday.
LAX and Hollywood Burbank had not posted their own statements as of 2:15 p.m.
Departures are frozen at every U.S. airport, including LAX, Hollywood Burbank, Long Beach, Ontario and John Wayne, after a communications problem hit the air traffic control centers that guide planes across the country.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the nationwide ground stop at 12:54 p.m. Pacific time on Friday, Nov. 13. It is only the third time in modern history that every airport in the country has been shut to departures at once. The other two were the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and a January 2023 computer failure.
FAA Orders Airspace Shutdown
The FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center sent the order to every aircraft operator in the country:
“Due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety. Attention all aircraft operators, by order of the Federal Aviation Command Center all airports are ground stopped. All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice. Inbound international flights will be managed on a case by case basis.”
Planes already in the air are being allowed to continue to their destinations. Any plane still on the ground stays there.
The Cause: What Is Being Reported So Far
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific: “The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”
An FAA spokesperson told CNN the problem is affecting the Air Route Traffic Control Centers. The aviation trade publication The Air Current reported that the stop was triggered by air traffic control radio frequency problems. The Washington Examiner, citing two FAA employees, described it as a “rolling frequency outage.”
Trouble first appeared at about 12:30 p.m. Pacific, when the Kansas City center went into a ground stop for intermittent equipment outages. The problem appears to have spread to other centers in quick succession. Chicago O’Hare and Chicago Midway were then grounded for equipment outages. Minutes later the FAA expanded the order to the entire country.
The FAA has not said what caused the failure.
SHUT DOWN: Los Angeles, Burbank & Southern California
The order covers every airport in the United States, so every commercial airport in Southern California is under it:
Los Angeles International (LAX)
Hollywood Burbank (BUR)
Long Beach (LGB)
Ontario International (ONT)
John Wayne, Orange County (SNA)
San Diego International (SAN)
ABC7 Los Angeles confirmed that LAX and other local airports had stopped letting planes depart.
The local link to the outage is direct. Planes over Southern California at cruising altitude are handled by the FAA’s Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale. That is one of the facilities Duffy said was affected. FAA records list Los Angeles Center as the en route facility for Hollywood Burbank Airport.
Hollywood Burbank is the closest commercial airport for South Pasadena, Pasadena and Glendale. The three cities jointly own it through the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. Its flights are mostly short hops around the West and are run largely by Southwest Airlines. Planes sitting at the gate in Burbank stay there until the FAA lifts the order.
When Will Flights Resume
No one knows yet. Reports on an estimated end time conflict. Some aviation outlets reported 5 p.m. Eastern (2 p.m. Pacific), and that time has passed with the stop still in place. One advisory reported by Oklahoma outlets listed 10 p.m. Central (8 p.m. Pacific). Investing.com reported that the first advisory ran into Saturday morning. None of these has been confirmed as the time departures will restart.
Even after the order is lifted, delays and cancellations are expected to last through the weekend. Planes and crews will be out of position across the country on a busy Friday evening.
What Travelers Can Do
Check your airline’s app or website before you leave for the airport. Airlines, not airports, will post flight changes first.
If you are picking someone up whose flight is already in the air, it should still land. Track it on the airline’s site.
Expect long lines and full rebooking queues tonight and Saturday at LAX and Burbank.
How This Compares To Previous Airspace Shutdowns
In January 2023, a corrupted file in the FAA’s pilot notice system, called NOTAM, stopped departures nationwide for about two hours on a Wednesday morning. Before that, the only nationwide shutdown was on Sept. 11, 2001.
Friday’s stop is different. It involves the communications, and by one airline’s account the radar, used to manage planes in flight, not a computer database. It also hit at the start of the Friday evening rush.
