11,000 U.S. Flights Disrupted After Nationwide Departure Halt on November 13
Key Facts
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide departure halt at U.S. airports on November 13, 2026, after communications problems affected several air traffic control centers, according to an agency statement. The notice issued by the Air Traffic Control System Command Center covered all airports and facilities, citing a "communications failure" as the reason for the halt. The Associated Press estimated that about 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers were scheduled to depart U.S. airports after 4 p.m. Eastern time. The halt was lifted at about 8:15 p.m., but only a limited number of domestic flights departed afterward, according to the agency. Officials warned that it would take time for traffic to return to normal, with aircraft and crews displaced from their usual locations.
At least 827 flights had been diverted by 7:05 p.m. Eastern time, according to Cirium data cited by the Associated Press. Of those flights, 670 were returned to the airports they had departed from, while 157 were directed to other airports. This showed that the halt's impact was not limited to departures that could not take off; it also affected flights already in the air that had to change course or return. An agency report described the halt as the longest for air traffic in 25 years, noting that normal operations would be restored slowly. At the request of the U.S. administration, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency had suspended departures bound for the United States from 5 p.m. Friday until midnight Eastern time.
JetBlue said its remaining domestic flights were canceled Friday evening, except for European departures from Boston Logan and New York John F. Kennedy airports. The company added that it expected disruptions to continue and additional flights to be canceled the next day. After the halt was lifted, JetBlue said it planned to resume flights Saturday morning, meaning the announcement that restrictions had been lifted did not signal an immediate return to operations. The company offered a waiver of change and cancellation fees and fare differences for passengers booked on flights on November 13 and 14. The policy allows eligible passengers to rearrange their travel plans within the period specified by the company, as disruptions continue.
Disruptions extended into Saturday, with more than 2,500 flights canceled within the United States and hundreds of other flights delayed, according to the Associated Press, citing FlightAware data. The agency said the effects also included international flights, as airlines struggled to reposition aircraft and crews. Delta said it had begun safely resuming operations after the halt was lifted, but said adjusting operations and repositioning aircraft and crews would take time. The company said it continued to allow fee-free flight changes and to rebook customers when their flights were canceled. In the November 13 session, American Airlines shares closed at $13.17, while JetBlue shares closed at $3.76, according to EL7 data.
Officials attributed the problem to new technology added to the air traffic control system that overloaded older parts of the system and caused intermittent gaps in communications and radar, according to the Associated Press. A Department of Homeland Security official said there were no indications of a cyberattack. The last previous nationwide halt was in January 2023, when a federal system for sending notices to pilots failed, according to the agency. The current halt was the second since the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the comparison reported by the Associated Press. The disruption comes as the air traffic control system is being upgraded, a process that began last year after Congress approved $12.5 billion in funding.
The transportation secretary said it could take days to fully restore operations after a large number of aircraft and crews were displaced, while expecting the system to return to normal in time for the Thanksgiving travel season. The estimate reflects that lifting the halt ended the federal ban on departures but did not automatically resolve the operational disruption that had built up at airlines. Delta began operating flights after the halt was lifted, but expected that resetting its operations would take time. To upgrade infrastructure, the transportation secretary and the White House are seeking an additional $30 billion to complete the project, on top of the funding approved by Congress. The next steps for passengers and airlines depend on restoring aircraft and crews to their positions and returning flights to their schedules, while sources provided no estimate of disruption costs or lost revenue.