6 P.M. UPDATE: As of 6 p.m. Central, the FAA’s nationwide ground stop remains in effect and no timeline has been given for lifting it. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a communication failure is affecting the 22 regional Air Route Traffic Control Centers that manage aircraft flying between airports. A pilot quoted by Yahoo News said the outage began at the Kansas City center and spread nationwide. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there is no sign of a “nefarious attack,” calling it “just a telecommunications outage,” and adding, “Everybody’s safe.” Investigators also plan to check whether a new FAA artificial intelligence system for spotting problems and rerouting aircraft played a role. As of 5 p.m. Eastern, FlightAware showed more than 9,000 delayed flights and more than 440 cancellations within, into or out of the United States, and those numbers are expected to keep climbing. Planes already in the air are being allowed to land, but aircraft on the ground cannot take off. One pilot told passengers the stop could last until 11 p.m. Eastern, 10 p.m. Central, but the FAA has not confirmed an end time. Travelers flying out of Bush Intercontinental or Hobby tonight or this weekend should check with their airline before going to the airport. This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023.
