Nationwide Ground Stop Lifted After Hours-Long Freeze on US Airspace

An hours-long ground stop on the nation’s airspace is over, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters on Friday night. 

The ground stop started around 3:30 PM and left many travelers nationwide stranded.  The ground stop measure was precautionary and no one was in any danger, Duffy said. 

Duffy and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin spoke to reporters. The two blamed the ground stop measure on old equipment and denied that the pause on outgoing flights was tied to a Microsoft outage on Thursday. 

The nationwide ground stop lifted at 8:15pm ET. Here’s a breakdown of today’s timeline: - At 3:36 p.m. ET, @FAANews experienced telecommunications issues at facilities & TRACONs across the country - The FAA issued a ground stop out of an abundance of caution while 3,500+ planes were in the air - Pilots and air traffic controllers followed established procedures to safely land the aircraft, bringing the number in the airspace down to under 400 as of 8pm ET - The FAA confirms they did not lose all radar or telecom, and exceptions were made to allow critical medevac, life-saving cargo, and law enforcement flights to continue operating

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 14, 2026

“With a brand new state of the art system, we wouldn't have these outages... At 8:15 tonight, eastern time, we've opened up the air space…" Secretary Mullin & Secretary Duffy provide an update on the FAA National Ground Stop. https://t.co/twTyQ9UJQ0

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 14, 2026

DUFFY AND MULLIN BRIEFING STARTING NOW “There is no connection between this and Microsoft”— MULLIN “No cyberattack, we’re still working through that process”— MULLIN

— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) November 14, 2026

REPORTER: "Why was there a ground stop put in place if no one was in any danger?!" “To even ask, you know, why is the President not talking? It’s because he’s allowed Secretary Duffy and us to go out there and explain to you what took place.” “This is what President Trump does.… https://t.co/QVjpqmfqZu

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 14, 2026

After restoring full functionality at our air traffic control centers and TRACONs, the @FAANews reopened the airspace tonight. It will take us time resume normal operations, so please continue to check with your airline for the latest information. Our top priority is the safety… https://t.co/QcTcXoaS8M

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 14, 2026

Update from The White House https://t.co/pNjkz3znSB

— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) November 14, 2026

There has been a temporary telecommunications outage - out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis.

— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) November 13, 2026

Transportation Secretary @SecDuffy answered Townhall’s @cameron_arcand at the White House moments ago, after Arcand asked what rights passengers have right now following the nationwide FAA ground stop. “This is one of those scenarios where this is not the fault of the airline…… https://t.co/TIDTIyi2jL

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 14, 2026

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