FAA Orders Nationwide Ground Stop Following Global Microsoft Outage

Key Facts

The FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop for all departing flights in the United States due to an outage in Microsoft systems. Sandra Rose reported that the global failure disrupted communications at Air Route Traffic Control Centers, rendering take-offs unsafe. This nationwide grounding marks only the second such event since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

MSFT closed at $523.825 on November 13, 2026, as efforts continued to restore systems affected by the outage that began on November 12. In the broader tech sector, AAPL closed at $356.27 and META closed at $633.29 on the same date. The company stated the outage was not the result of a cyberattack, while pilots were advised to land at any available airport as the number of active flights decreased.