US FAA grounds all departing flights due to extraordinary circumstance, safety reasons

WASHINGTON - The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a national ground stop of all departing flights on Nov 13 “due to extraordinary circumstance and reasons for safety” after the agency earlier reported serious air traffic control communications issues.The announcement means flights in the air may land, but flights on the ground cannot take off.Shortly before the announcement, the FAA halted traffic in Chicago due to air traffic control communications issues. The agency said, “All departing traffic should remain groundstopped until further notice.”The FAA said international flights will be managed on a case-by-case basis. The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Nov 13 was the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. The other happened in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.In 2025, Congress approved US$12.5 billion (S$16 billion) to fix the FAA’s ageing communications system, and on Nov 13 the FAA and White House asked Congress for another US$30.1 billion to address other issues. REUTERS