Breaking: FAA orders rare nationwide ground stop, disrupting Alaska air travel

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Nov. 13, 2026 — The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a rare nationwide ground stop Friday, holding departing flights across the United States, including Alaska, after a communications problem disrupted air traffic control operations.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the problem affected all Air Route Traffic Control Centers and that FAA technicians were investigating. No estimated time for restoring normal operations was immediately announced.

The FAA’s order directed that “all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice.” Aircraft already airborne could continue to their destinations and land, while inbound international flights would be handled individually.

The nationwide stop took effect at approximately 11:54 am Alaska time, according to the timing listed in FAA Command Center Advisory 111. The advisory’s listed planning window did not establish a guaranteed restart time; the departure restrictions were issued until further notice. Readers who are flying today have said they were told it would be at least seven hours.

For Alaska travelers, the national scope means the disruption extends beyond flights to and from the Lower 48. Departures within the state also fall under the nationwide order. Alaska’s air traffic system includes the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center, known as ZAN.

The extent of disruption to individual rural routes and small-aircraft operations was not immediately known.

Friday’s action followed earlier communications-related restrictions in Chicago. Federal officials had not immediately identified the underlying cause of the nationwide problem.

Nationwide departure stops are exceptionally unusual. The previous one occurred in January 2023, when an outage in the FAA’s system for providing safety notices to pilots halted domestic departures for roughly two hours. Before that, the previous nationwide grounding followed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Travelers should check directly with their airlines for flight-specific information before heading to the airport. Delays may continue after departures resume as airlines work through the backlog.