Here's the latest
• Ground stop: Domestic US flights are being allowed to depart again after federal officials issued an hours-long ground stop due to safety concerns from a telecommunications outage. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy blamed old air traffic control technology and overloaded routers.
• Update problem: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin pointed to FAA updates to those aging systems as the reason behind the halt. He added the ground stop did not stem from a threat to the US and was not linked to this week’s disruptive Microsoft outage.
• Call to Congress: Duffy warned of more disruption unless the system is updated, urging Congress to provide funds for improvements. It’s “going to be slow” to return to normal, he said, adding that it shouldn’t impact Thanksgiving travel in a couple weeks.
• Travel nightmare: Thousands of travelers face an uncertain night sleeping on airport floors or stuck in agonizingly long queues early Saturday. More than 15,000 US flights were either delayed or canceled on Friday, and about 3,000 are expected to be delayed or canceled on Saturday.
Updates
(91)Frustrated travelers stranded across US airports with more delays ahead. Here's what to know
Thousands of travelers faced an uncertain night sleeping on airport floors or stuck in agonizingly long queues early Saturday, as many flights remained canceled across the country following a systems failure that grounded all US planes.
Flights resumed at 8:15 p.m. ET. But travel chaos is expected to continue into the weekend as airlines try to clear the huge volumes of displaced planes, passengers, luggage and crew.
Here’s what to know:
• What happened: The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for all flights in the US Friday afternoon. A ground stop requires aircraft to remain on the ground and bars them from taking off. More than 3,500 airplanes were in the air when it was issued. The order was lifted more than four hours later.
• Travel nightmare: More than 15,000 US flights were either delayed or canceled on Friday and about 3,000 are expected to be delayed or canceled on Saturday, according to flight data tracker FlightAware. With so many aircraft unable to fly, airports ran out of gates and tarmac space to park planes. Some flights have resumed but huge crowds remain stranded at airports around the US as officials warned it will take time to clear the backlog.
• Why planes were grounded: The rare decision to halt all US flights was made after “incredibly old” air traffic control routers became overloaded with data and started to give inconsistent readings, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the FAA added new technology into an existing framework, which overwhelmed the older system.
• System upgrade: Administration officials said more such incidents will happen until the system is upgraded. President Donald Trump pushed for Congress to pass legislation modernizing air traffic control towers, terminals and other critical infrastructure, according to a source. And Mullin called for a “complete overhaul” of the FAA’s technology systems, which he said could cost about $50 billion.
CNN’s Laura Sharman, Lucas Lilieholm, Kit Maher, Aleena Fayaz, Molly English, and Emma Tucker contributed reporting.
In photos: Ground stop travel chaos
Images of stranded and frustrated passengers, planes crowding the tarmac, and airport departure boards lit up with red cancellation notices give a snapshot of the travel nightmare that unfolded across the United States on Friday and into Saturday.
Federal officials grounded all US flights for more than four hours due to safety concerns from a systems failure, saying an upgrade to old air traffic control technology that overloaded routers was to blame. Some flights have resumed, but further disruption is expected into the weekend.
Is it really just outdated tech? Aviation safety expert explains
Fixing the issues that led to Friday’s flight grounding is more complex than simply upgrading physical infrastructure, aviation safety expert David Soucie said after officials attributed the shutdown to outdated and overloaded systems.
Soucie told CNN that the real challenge lies in how these systems are interconnected and communicate with one another.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cited old air traffic control technology and overloaded routers as causes of the nationwide grounding, noting that it was not linked to the FAA’s new AI-powered system and affected only legacy equipment.
The FAA has already replaced thousands of copper wires with fiber optic lines and upgraded hundreds of radio systems as part of an overhaul that began last year, after Congress approved $12.5 billion in funding, according to the Associated Press.
However, Soucie said that even when old copper wires are replaced, new vulnerabilities can arise. There was a reason copper was used for so long, he said.
“They can’t be changed, they can’t be modified, they can’t be hacked… so to change that and still maintain a constant system that’s not vulnerable to attack is not a simple task,” Soucie said.
Even the “basic structure of how things work together – they’re interdependent on each other – that takes an enormous amount of coordination.”
Flight chaos erupted week after FAA announced floppy disk phaseout
Just a week before Friday’s grounding, the Federal Aviation Administration announced plans to phase out decades-old floppy disks used for weather and other critical information at air traffic control centers.
For anyone too young to remember this mostly obsolete technology, a floppy disk is a magnetic memory strip encased in plastic that is physically inserted into a computer. Each one typically stores up to 1.44MB of data – that’s less than the size of an average-resolution iPhone photo.
The new system will replace them at more than 400 facilities nationwide by the end of 2028, the FAA announced on November 6, Reuters reported.
On Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the FAA’s addition of new technology to its old system was behind Friday’s massive breakdown.
While it’s unclear if the floppy disk phaseout is connected, it highlights how much US air traffic control may still rely on outdated, manual processes.
When asked about the phaseout, former FAA flight accident flight inspector David Soucie told CNN that every project he worked on relied on custom digital software. But some of the hardware used in 1999 had been built three decades earlier, he added.
“Every time you introduce something new, you’re creating new vulnerabilities. So that’s my point now, is seeing this happen illustrates that you can’t just simply start making new things.”
Mom and toddler among passengers giving up on travel plans
We’re now getting more on the adverse effects this disruption is having on air travelers around the country. Some passengers are giving up on their flight plans after hours of chaos and cancellations, CNN’s Julia Vargas Jones reported Friday night from Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
Melissa Ogden was waiting to take off for San Francisco with her toddler when they were told to disembark the plane.
Her daughter, perched on her hip back at the airport, looked up at her and summed up the forlorn situation: “All done.”
Ogden told CNN: “We were delayed for a couple hours, and then we were on the plane for a couple hours. We waited a long time. And then we got back in here, back to square one… we all want it to be done.”
She added: “We’re just glad that we weren’t in the air when it happened.”
The mom, who had planned to visit the San Francisco Bay Area ahead of a work trip in the city, said she has decided not to rebook her flight.
“There is no way, if they get all this stuff figured out, that a flight is going to go any time soon. Even after they figure it out, there is going to be a cascading effect so we were like ‘Let’s just go home.’
“They told us our bags are going to go to San Francisco without us, that’s all we’ve been told.”
Vargas Jones said many passengers are being told to try again tomorrow for their flights, with some admitting they want to give up.
Another group, who had just met at a salesforce conference, told CNN they decided to abandon their flight altogether and rent a car to drive the 800 miles back to New York instead.
Some air traffic controllers "don't buy" Duffy's explanation for ground stop
Some air traffic controllers “don’t buy” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s explanation for what prompted Friday’s nationwide FAA ground stop order, according to a national security reporter for the Washington Examiner.
Anna Giaritelli told CNN’s Laura Coates she had been in contact with 60 air traffic controllers and “none of them are buying what he said.”
The nationwide ground stop was issued after air traffic control routers became overloaded with data and started to give inconsistent readings, Duffy said. The secretary blamed the issue on the country’s “incredibly old” air traffic control system. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the system failure as a result of patching new technology into an existing framework which caused the older system to get overwhelmed.
But Giaritelli said “these types of switches they’re doing that the FAA is doing, they don’t happen during the day. They don’t happen during busy times like a Friday afternoon. They’re doing these midweek, middle of the night when there is no air traffic going on.”
What to do if your flight is canceled or delayed by the FAA ground stop
Friday’s nationwide ground stop is a reminder that flights can get canceled and delayed at any time and for numerous reasons – from bad weather and mechanical issues to operational glitches.
Keep in mind that in the United States, when an airline cancels your flight, you are entitled to a refund if you choose not to travel.
“If a flight does get canceled, travelers are owed a full refund for the ticket, full stop. If they are presented with a credit, they have the right to refuse and ask for monetary refund,” said Katy Nastro, a spokesperson for travel site Going.com, who was underlining Department of Transportation rules.
If a big storm or another complication seems poised to disrupt your flights, “look to make alternative travel plans immediately,” said Eric Napoli, chief legal officer at AirHelp, an air passenger rights company. Competition for seats becomes fierce during the holiday season when flights are more full.
“Travelers should consider looking at flights that are very early in the morning — as these are typically less delayed, too,” Napoli said.
Here’s more on what experts say you should do if your flight is delayed or canceled.
More than 2,000 flights in the US canceled for Saturday
Travelers can expect further flight disruptions tomorrow as US aviation recovers from Friday’s hours-long ground stop that halted air travel across the country.
More than 2,000 flights within, into, or out of the US are canceled for Saturday, according to flight data tracker FlightAware. And more than 300 flights are expected to be delayed.
Already more than 7,700 flights within, into, or out of the US were canceled today and more than 8,000 were delayed, according to FlightAware.
Some planes began flying again Friday evening and major airlines said they are working to resume operations. But passengers have been told to expect disruptions into the weekend as airlines work to clear the backlog of planes and find crew to fly them.
Changes to Saturday's college football schedule
Multiple college football games scheduled for Saturday – including three featuring top-25 teams - have been affected by the nationwide ground stop.
One of the biggest games of the weekend which features No. 2 Utah on the road at No. 23 Arizona has been pushed back three hours, to 10:30 p.m. ET.
No. 10 BYU is now set to host Baylor at 7 p.m. ET, moving back from an original 3:30 p.m. ET start.
Mississippi State’s home game against Auburn has been moved from noon ET to 4:15 p.m. ET.
The University of Central Florida’s home game against Arizona State is now scheduled to kick off at 5:30 p.m. ET after it was originally slated for 4:15 p.m. ET.
Tulane will take on Rice at 4:30 p.m. ET instead of 2 p.m. ET, and Florida Atlantic will now play Tulsa at 7:15 p.m. ET. Kansas at West Virginia has moved up to 3:30 p.m. ET.
At Miami International, stranded passenger seeks somewhere to sleep
In testimony that underscores the stress and uncertainty facing thousands around the country, a passenger stranded at Miami International Airport has told CNN he’s hoping, at best, for a complimentary hotel stay – to avoid spending the night on the airport floor.
The passenger arrived on a flight from El Salvador. His connecting flight was delayed by three hours, and then ultimately canceled.
“There’s no more flights tonight, so I don’t know. I’m just trying to get a free hotel or something… I’m trying to make it home,” he told CNN’s Carolina Peguero at the Miami hub.
When asked where he would sleep otherwise, he said: “Here in the airport, on the floor somewhere.”
He added: “I got another trip planned on Tuesday, so I’m flying back to Orlando… I got stuff to do tomorrow so it’s complicated.”
Other passengers have managed to rebook their flights, but not until tomorrow, while some are resorting to rental cars to continue their journey, Peguero said.
Trump urges Congress to fast-track air traffic control overhaul in call with senator
President Donald Trump in a phone call tonight with GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt pushed for Congress to pass legislation modernizing air traffic control, airport towers, terminals and other critical infrastructure as soon as possible, said a source familiar with the conversation.
Schmitt called the president before tonight’s briefing at the White House, the source said.
Schmitt, who serves on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, introduced the Modern Skies Act in September, which would provide $30 billion in additional federal funding to update the nation’s aviation infrastructure. He is pushing for it to be included in reconciliation so the funding can pass sooner.
The Trump administration sent a letter to Congress this morning, hours before the ground stop, asking for the $30 billion in additional funding, the source said. The letter from director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was sent to leadership on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Flight departures to resume after systems "thoroughly tested"
Some departure flights from the United States are set to resume, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed after lifting the nationwide ground stop.
“Before clearing flights to resume, we thoroughly tested our systems to confirm they were stable and that operations remain reliable,” the FAA said on X shortly after 10 p.m. ET on Friday.
The US agency advised passengers to contact their airlines for flight updates and said public safety is always its “highest priority.”
FAA updates caused problems leading to system failure, Mullin says
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin pointed to FAA updates to the air traffic control system as the reason behind today’s nationwide ground stop. He said the FAA added new technology to the old system, causing the massive breakdown.
“What it appears to be right now is, as Secretary Duffy and FAA was going in and putting patches into the system, they were putting new equipment and new technology, and that new equipment, new technology… it was overwhelming the older system,” Mullin said.
Mullin cited the failure of the patches as evidence that the FAA systems need a “complete overhaul.”
The ground stop is over, but here's what we still don’t know
Federal officials have warned it will take time for airports and airlines to reach full capacity again following today’s hours-long ground stop that halted flights across the country and caused travel chaos for tens of thousands of people.
Some flights are resuming, but many questions remain about what the weekend will look like for passengers and airlines, and how to prevent the disruption from happening again.
Here’s what we know, and don’t know, about the hours and days ahead:
Why it happened: The nationwide ground stop was issued this afternoon after air traffic control routers became overloaded with data and started to give inconsistent readings, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said. The secretary blamed the issue on the country’s “incredibly old” air traffic control system. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the system failure as a result of patching new technology into an existing framework which caused the older system to get overwhelmed.
Untangling the airspace mess: Some passengers are sitting on planes, waiting for hours on the tarmac as airports don’t have the gate space to allow them to disembark. Duffy warned it could take until tomorrow to move flights, as it depends on whether airports have space and whether pilots and crew are available. Large crowds and long queues of people could be seen at airports and baggage claims across the country Friday evening.
Which airline flights remain canceled: Because of the congestion, some airlines have canceled flights tonight. JetBlue Airways has called off its remaining flights for Friday and said it expects disruptions to continue into Saturday. More than 1,600 flights within, into, or out of the US are canceled for Saturday, according to flight data tracker FlightAware. Meanwhile, Delta and United said they have resumed operations, but expect disruptions into the weekend. Airlines are asking passengers to check their latest flight status.
What needs to be done: Transportation Secretary Duffy warned that more disruptions to air travel would happen unless the system is updated, and repeatedly urged Congress to act on legislation that would give them more money to improve the systems. Homeland Security Secretary Mullin called for a “complete overhaul” of FAA’s technology systems, which he said could cost about $50 billion.
Here's what major US airlines are saying after ground stop was lifted
After the ground stop was lifted following four hours of travel disruptions and thousands of flight cancellations and delays, some airlines said flights would resume while others said the impacts could drag into the weekend.
- Delta Air Lines has resumed all scheduled flights following the Federal Aviation Administration order lifting the nationwide ground stop. “Please visit the Delta app or check your flight status for more information,” the airline said on its website. The airline is offering flexibility options and the ability to adjust travel plans, it said.
- United Airlines said it is resuming operations, including some Friday night flights. “Safety is our highest priority as we take care of our customers and employees,” the airline said. Customers who have received travel waivers can change their travel plans this weekend as disruptions are expected to continue on Saturday, the airline said. Customers can check the latest flight status at united.com or the United app.
- Southwest Airlines is resuming a limited number of flights, with schedules adjusted according to crew location and availability, it said Friday evening ET. The company has also issued a waiver allowing customers to cancel or rebook their flights at a later date without penalty.
- Frontier Airlines said it is “working to restore operations.” Travelers can check their flight status and emails for updates, the airline said.
- JetBlue Airways called off its remaining flights for Friday and said it expects disruptions to continue into Saturday.
"You will have more of these," Duffy warns about FAA outage
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that more disruptions to air travel would happen unless the system is updated, repeatedly urging Congress to act on legislation that would give them more money to improve the systems.
“You will have more of them unless the American people and the Congress tell us to build, and I can’t wait for that,” Duffy said in response to a question from CNN’s Kristen Holmes.
Holmes asked Duffy why the agency wasn’t prepared for the type of catastrophic failure like today.
“Well, I can’t anticipate every catastrophic failure that’ll happen with a TDM network, with an analog network,” he replied.
When another reporter asked Duffy to explain what he meant by this happening again, he said he didn’t know specifics.
“Is this exact thing going to happen again? I don’t, I don’t know that this exact scenario will happen,” Duffy said.
Earlier in the briefing, Duffy pointed to other instances when the system, which he repeatedly described as “analog,” failed.
“We had this happen in New York when we had global leaders were flying in for the UN. We had a similar issue. We had an issue in Newark. It happened twice,” Duffy said. “How many times does this have to happen before Congress gives the money to fix it?”
Trump is "fully engaged" in fixing FAA system, Cabinet members say
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy projected confidence in President Donald Trump’s interest in resolving FAA matters, telling reporters Friday that the president has been “fully engaged.”
“He understands it very well,” Duffy said during a Friday night briefing, adding, “He was talking about how old the system is, how past administrations have failed, and how he wants to fix the air traffic control system in America and deliver the best in the world.”
Duffy said he and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin spoke with the president multiple times to discuss the ground stop. Both men effusively praised Trump throughout the briefing. Mullin emphasized that “no one was in danger,” because of the president’s leadership and procedures set in place.
“You’ve never had a builder and a leader like President Trump lead this nation, have a vision, and put the team together,” Mullin said.
Amid the ongoing ground stop earlier this evening, Trump posted multiple times on social media, but not on the FAA issues. In one post, he urged Congress to pass legislation about Hollywood and in another he praised the US Coast Guard for their rescue efforts in Louisiana.
Delta resumes flights after FAA lifts nationwide ground stop
Delta Air Lines has resumed all scheduled flights following the Federal Aviation Authority order lifting the nationwide ground stop.
“Please visit the Delta app or check your flight status for more information,” the airline said on its website. The airline is offering flexibility options and the ability to adjust travel plans, it said.
Why the SpaceX rocket had no issues taking off
While the nationwide grounding sent ripple effects across the aviation industry, SpaceX’s Starship flight went off without incident.
Commercial space companies work closely with the Federal Aviation Administration: Before today’s launch could take place, SpaceX needed an FAA launch license, for example. And the agency issues NOTAMs — or Notice to Airmen — in order to clear air traffic around the launch site to ensure the rocket has a clear path for liftoff.
But SpaceX does not rely on the same flight tracking infrastructure as aircraft. The company uses its own telemetry, gathered directly from Starship, to ensure the vehicle is operating as intended and on the correct flight path.
Infrastructure from the US Space Force is also the primary means of tracking traffic in Earth orbit.
SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot confirmed in an email to CNN that today’s ground stop would have no impact on their test flight. The 22-hour mission is currently underway and is expected to conclude tomorrow afternoon.
Travelers at New York City’s JFK airport face long lines and baggage claim chaos
Although the nationwide ground stop has since been lifted, CNN’s David Lopez earlier reported “big crowds and chaos in baggage claim” at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City.
He said he saw hundreds of people in dozens of separate lines in Terminal 4 at JFK trying to rebook flights.
In baggage claim, he reported “huge lines” of people trying to find what carousel their bags were on after their flights were canceled because there was no signage.
