Watch: 3 Rock Bands Play Mid-Air Concert On Southwest Jet That Narrowly Beat FAA Ground Stop

Credit: marchello74 | Shutterstock Published Nov 14, 2026, 6:57 AM EST Luke has over a decade of experience as a travel writer and aviation analyst. As a passionate traveler based across the Middle East and Asia, Luke offers strong insights into the industry. Based in South East Asia. Sign in to your Simple Flying account Passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Orlando on Friday got an unexpected in-flight concert from three of the biggest rock bands of the early 2000s. Hoobastank, Simple Plan and The Used each took turns performing in the aisle, with videos shared by passengers later spreading across social media. The flight departed from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) just moments before the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a rare nationwide ground stop on Friday afternoon, bringing all US departures to a halt for more than four hours. According to some onboard, the Southwest flight was among the last to take off before the order took effect. Hoobastank, Simple Plan And The Used Perform Onboard Credit: Robin Guess | Shutterstock Videos from the flight show the cabin lights dimmed as passengers sang along, raised their arms and filmed the performances on their phones. According to the Daily Voice, Hoobastank frontman Doug Robb performed the band's 2004 hit "The Reason," while Simple Plan followed with "Perfect" and "I'm Just a Kid," and The Used played "The Taste of Ink." All three bands are scheduled to appear at this weekend's Vans Warped Tour event in Orlando, of which Southwest is an event sponsor. Hoobastank later shared several passenger videos to its Instagram Stories, including one from singer LØLØ, who captioned her clip, "Every plane was grounded today, but the emo gods made sure this one flew." It is not clear whether the performances had been planned or were spontaneous. Southwest is listed as the Preferred Airline Partner of Vans Warped Tour. The festival's website says the airline is bringing "the first-ever Vans Warped Tour experience at 35,000 feet" through its Live at 35 program, which features pop-up performances on flights. Simple Flying contacted Southwest for comment about this flight, but a representative could not be reached before publication. Previous Southwest Mid-Air Performances Credit: Southwest Airlines Southwest launched its Live at 35 program in 2011, bringing musicians onboard to perform for passengers. The program held its 100th concert in October 2024, when Liz Rose performed on a flight from Nashville to Miami. The flight was carrying Taylor Swift fans to the Eras Tour. In June, the carrier marked 15 years of the initiative with a performance by the Plain White T's, one of the program's earliest acts. The airline said at the time that it planned to hold more of these onboard events in the coming months, and several have since taken place. Other notable performances include Bowling For Soup performing on a flight to Las Vegas in July, while reggae artist Julian Marley recently performed on a sold-out flight from Orlando to Montego Bay. The onboard performances are typically brief, with a Southwest spokesperson previously stating that each lasts about 10 minutes. The Longest Nationwide Ground Stop In 25 Years Credit: Michael Gordon | Shutterstock The Southwest flight's departure came just before one of the most significant disruptions to US air travel in decades. At 3:54 PM ET (12:54 PM local time in Los Angeles), the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop, later describing the issue as a "temporary telecommunications outage." While aircraft already in the air were allowed to continue to their destinations, all departing flights were held on the ground until the restriction was lifted at around 8:15 PM ET. At over four hours, it was the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years and only the second since the September 11 attacks, following a January 2023 malfunction of the FAA system used to send notices to pilots. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said aging air traffic control routers had become overloaded with data, while other officials claimed that new technology being installed had overwhelmed older equipment. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed there was no indication of a cyberattack or terrorist threat.