FAA lifts nationwide ground stop after thousands of flights disrupted

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop on Friday evening after hours of disruption affected thousands of flights across the country. Flight cancellations and delays are expected to continue through the weekend.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the country's aging air traffic control system for the nationwide ground stop, saying at a press conference that the system was "incredibly old."

He said earlier on the social media platform X that the FAA had issued a nationwide ground stop following a "communication issue" impacting all air route traffic control centers.

US media reported that the FAA had issued an advisory citing "extraordinary circumstances" and "reasons of safety" as grounds for the nationwide ground stop, describing it as a rare move.

More than 10,000 flights were disrupted, according to a report by CNBC, which noted that more flight cancellations were expected to extend into Saturday.

The nationwide ground stop was the first since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned, and the second since the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

At a press conference Friday evening, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said that while nothing was completely certain at that point, there were no indications that a cyberattack was responsible.

Duffy, who was also at the press conference, asked Congress for $50 billion in emergency funding to overhaul the nation's aging air traffic control infrastructure.