FAA Ends Nationwide Ground Stop After Four Hours But Flight Disruptions Continue

The Federal Aviation Administration halted flight departures across the country for more than four hours on Friday following telecommunications failures that impacted multiple air traffic control centers. The nationwide ground stop disrupted over 10,000 flights, leading to cascading delays and cancellations that will continue through the weekend. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pointed to aging air traffic control infrastructure as the underlying problem, while Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated there was no indication of a security threat or cyber attack. The FAA lifted the ground stop at 8:15 p.m. ET, but airlines struggled to reposition planes and crews, forcing carriers like JetBlue to cancel additional flights as travel chaos persisted at airports nationwide.