US flights grounded highlights: FAA says 'systems stable' after thorough testing of flight operations

The FAA said it had lifted the ground stop after testing its systems and confirming they were stable enough for flight operations to resume. The agency said some departures were restarting and advised passengers to contact their airlines for the latest flight updates.

United Airlines is resuming flight operations, including some Friday night flights. The airline advises to check flight status before heading to the airport.

Duffy blamed Congress for failing to fund a new system that he said could prevent such outages, and called for $50 billion to modernize it.

Before the outage, the White House and Department of Transportation had urged Congress to approve $30.1 billion to upgrade the nation’s aging airports and air traffic control infrastructure.

The FAA’s nationwide flight grounding for several hours on Friday disrupted sports schedules across the US, forcing NBA, NHL and college teams to scramble to make it to their destinations ahead of games scheduled for the weekend, AP reported.

Delta Air Lines to safely resuming operations following the lifting of the FAA-mandated nationwide ground stop.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that US airspace was now “opened up,” and blamed “old hardware” for the travel chaos. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters there was “no cyberattack” and “no connection between this and Microsoft.”

The Federal Aviation Administration says airplane departures can resume after the agency lifted a nationwide ground stop caused by communications problems.

Secretary of Homeland Security Mullin said the public was never at danger through this process. There was never any lives at risk. All your loved ones are safe. We are working to resolve the issue, and we hope to have operations up and going normal at some point. He also added, “this is what the leadership of President Trump looks like”.

The airline said that the cancellation of all of its flights to and from the US will last the rest of Friday evening.

A US official said nationwide ground stop is about to be lifted, Reuters reported.

The first aircraft has taken off from Chicago O’Hare Airport after nearly four hours without departures, according to FlightAware.

The nationwide US ground stop remains in effect as over 10,000 flights have been delayed and another 4,000 have already been cancelled.

FlightAware recorded 10,079 US-related delays and 4,238 cancellations by 7:30 pm ET amid the nationwide FAA ground stop.

The figures were significantly higher than Thursday’s 6,800 delays and 1,024 cancellations, and Wednesday’s 3,424 delays and 99 cancellations.

President Donald Trump said the nationwide flight disruption does not appear to be connected to a cyberattack or artificial intelligence.

He made the remarks during an interview with Fox News, as authorities continue to examine the cause of the FAA communication failure.

SpaceX was able to launch its 15th uncrewed Starship mission from Texas because flight restrictions around the launch site were already in place before the FAA imposed the nationwide ground stop.

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the airspace along the rocket’s path had been cleared in advance.

The mission reached orbit, but SpaceX abandoned plans to bring the booster back to the launch pad, with the booster instead splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico.

More than 2,400 flights had been canceled across the US by 7 p.m. ET, and the number was “rising rapidly,” FlightRadar24 spokesperson Ian Petchenik said, according to Reuters. The cancellations came as the nationwide FAA ground stop continued to disrupt air travel.

Microsoft has said it has found no evidence connecting the FAA’s nationwide ground stop to any of its services.

San Francisco International Airport has confirmed that Pacific-bound flights, including services to Hawaii and destinations across Asia, have received clearance to depart.

Several college football teams have headed back to their campuses after airport staff warned administrators that the nationwide FAA ground stop could continue for another eight hours, On3 reported.

The disruption could further complicate travel plans for teams scheduled to play this weekend.

The FBI is investigating whether a software update may have triggered the communication failure behind the nationwide FAA ground stop, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Investigators do not currently believe the disruption was caused by a cyberattack or criminal activity, the person said.

Eurocontrol has halted all US-bound flight departures from its 42 member states following a request from the FAA, according to an update on the European air traffic management body’s website.

Israel is among the member states affected.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, said the panel would examine technology problems involving aircraft communication systems.

“Technology issues related to how planes communicate through primary frequencies, backup frequencies, and other issues will be something the Commerce Committee will be reviewing,” Cantwell said. She added that her team was in contact with the FAA and monitoring the situation.

Some US airlines could shut down operations for the remainder of Friday if flight services do not resume soon, airline officials told Reuters.

The warning highlights the potential for prolonged disruption as carriers continue to deal with the nationwide ground stop and uncertainty over when normal operations can resume.

Departure delays at Atlanta’s airport have reached an average of 150 minutes and continue to increase amid the nationwide ground stop, according to the FAA website.

At Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, most flights displayed on terminal screens were delayed, with passengers advised to check with airlines for updated timings.

Meanwhile, Boston Logan International Airport said on X that the FAA was permitting some transatlantic flights to depart.

A student pilot was left to land an aircraft alone during Friday’s nationwide ground stop, with air traffic control audio capturing the tense exchange.

“I don’t know what to do,” the pilot told controllers at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. Controllers advised the student to land and asked where they wanted to go.

The aircraft touched down a few minutes later at Hicks Airfield, around 15 miles northwest of Fort Worth, according to FlightAware.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that 600 flights had been diverted across the US as of 5:50 pm ET on Friday, according to Reuters.

Of these, 496 flights, or 82.7%, returned to their departure airports, while 104 landed elsewhere.

Chicago O’Hare received the highest number of diverted flights at 28, followed by Denver with 26 and Dallas/Fort Worth with 19.

Cirium also estimated that more than 1.5 million passengers were scheduled to depart from US airports after 4 pm ET.