FAA Ground Stop Disrupts Flights Across Europe, Asia and Brazil After U.S. Air Traffic Failure

A nationwide suspension of takeoffs ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday, Nov. 13, disrupted air travel in the United States and abroad, triggering cancellations, delays and schedule changes. The restriction affected airports across the country and had knock-on effects on international routes and connections in Europe, Asia, Mexico and Brazil.

The U.S. government said the ground stop was a safety measure taken after a telecommunications failure affected communications systems at regional air traffic control centers. In North America, Air Canada said it would cancel all flights to the United States for the rest of the night. The airline warned that flights between Canada, the Caribbean and South America that cross U.S. airspace could also be affected. Mexico’s federal aviation authority separately ordered commercial flights scheduled to travel to the United States to remain on the ground.

In Brazil, Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo said aircraft bound for the United States would remain grounded while the FAA order was in effect. Airport operators for Guarulhos, Brasília and Galeão in Rio de Janeiro issued similar guidance, advising passengers to check with their airlines about individual flights. Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) said it was monitoring the situation and urged travelers with U.S.-bound trips to contact their airlines.

In Europe, Eurocontrol suspended flights to the United States at the FAA’s request. The restriction covered all 42 countries in the organization, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal. It was scheduled to remain in effect until 2 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, Brasília time. Flights bound for the United States from major airports in the Asia-Pacific region were also affected and delayed.

FlightAware data published by the British newspaper The Guardian showed 6,816 cancellations and 8,553 delays worldwide on Friday. The figures cover global flight disruptions that may or may not have been directly connected to the U.S. suspension. The ground stop lasted about four hours. Aviation data company Cirium estimated that roughly 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers had been scheduled to depart U.S. airports during the affected period. Among the airports most affected were O’Hare in Chicago, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth in Texas. Airports in New York, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Newark, Washington and Seattle were also on the list.

At about 10 p.m. Brasília time, the FAA canceled its order halting takeoffs. The end of the restriction did not immediately restore normal operations. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the recovery would be gradual and could take time, depending on available airport capacity as well as pilots and crew members. “I believe we’ll be back up and running as we enter the peak Thanksgiving travel period,” he said at a White House news conference. Thanksgiving will be observed Nov. 26.

Duffy said the suspension followed instability at radar centers and in air traffic communications nationwide, and blamed what he called an “incredibly old air traffic control system.” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officials had found no evidence of a cyberattack. “There is no indication. We have not seen any footprints or identified anyone who got into the system,” he said, adding that investigators were still examining possibilities and would not rule them out. The episode was the third nationwide suspension of takeoffs in the United States. The previous one occurred in January 2023 after a failure in the system used to notify pilots; before that, the measure had been used only after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.