The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday following communications problems affecting the country's air traffic control system.

The Associated Press reported that the disruption affected all 22 regional air traffic control centers responsible for directing aircraft traveling between airports nationwide.

“Due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety, all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice,” the FAA said in an advisory. 

The temporary stoppage affected airports nationwide. International flights arriving in the United States would be handled on a case-by-case basis, according to the FAA advisory.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged the communications problems in a post on X, saying FAA technicians were investigating the issue.

“We will provide immediate updates as we have them,” Duffy said.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin characterized the disruption as a telecommunications outage and distinguished it from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“This isn't another 9/11. This is a telecommunications outage. This is much different,” Mullin said.

The AP reported that Friday's disruption marked the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a malfunction in a critical FAA computer system disrupted air travel. Before that incident, the last nationwide ground stop occurred following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Aging infrastructure remains a concern

The communications disruption comes as the federal government continues a multibillion-dollar effort to modernize aging air traffic control infrastructure.

According to the AP, Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to begin overhauling the technology used by air traffic controllers. The modernization work includes replacing aging copper communications lines with fiber-optic infrastructure and gradually upgrading outdated radio systems at airports nationwide.

Significant work remains unfinished. Duffy has said an additional $30 billion will be needed to complete the upgrades, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress for the funding, the AP reported.

The underlying technical cause of Friday's outage had not been established in the initial reports, and no connection between the disruption and aging infrastructure had been confirmed.

Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo, a former United Airlines pilot, told the AP that Friday's communications problems appeared similar to a regional outage in September that disrupted hundreds of flights across the Northeast, although the latest incident was nationwide.

Arroyo said the problem could be connected to outdated communications technology used by air traffic controllers.

“If you don’t have that ability, whether it’s because the old wires that they have are just run down or for whatever reason, you’ve got to stop airplanes on the ground,” Arroyo told the AP. “And not put them in the air where you’re going to risk not being able to communicate with them.”

Arroyo also distinguished Friday's ground stop from the response to the Sept. 11 attacks. Unlike that incident, aircraft already in flight were not being ordered to land immediately, and pilots likely retained the ability to communicate with ground controllers at airports, he said.

The duration of the nationwide ground stop remained unclear in the initial reports.

This report includes information from the Los Angeles Times, distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. © 2026 Los Angeles Times.