FAA grounds all U.S. departures, halting Canada-U.S. flights

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights across the United States on Friday after a communications failure hit air traffic control centres, suspending flights between Canada and the U.S. at major Canadian airports.

“The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centres,” the agency said in a statement to Global News. It said technicians are investigating and it will provide updates as they become available.

Toronto Pearson International Airport said on social media that flights were “impacted” and there were “currently no scheduled U.S.-bound departures or arrivals at this time.” It told passengers to check with their airline before coming to the airport.

Montreal-Trudeau International Airport said all flights to and from the U.S. were suspended until further notice. A spokesperson for Calgary International Airport told Global News that all U.S.-bound flights were being held.

Vancouver International Airport said it was seeing delays for U.S.-bound departures and for some international flights that would normally fly over the U.S. It said domestic flights within Canada were not affected. Edmonton International Airport said seven U.S.-bound flights were scheduled to leave by the end of the day and could be affected. Saskatoon and Regina airports said they had no scheduled direct U.S. flights for the rest of Friday.

An Air Canada spokesperson said flights to and from the Caribbean and South America may also be affected. Porter Airlines said its flights that cross U.S. airspace to Mexico and the Caribbean were grounded. Flights already in the air were told they could continue, the airline said.

NAV Canada, which runs Canada’s air traffic control system, said its systems were operating normally and that it would continue to support the safe movement of air traffic in Canadian airspace, including aircraft that may be diverted. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said the federal government was in contact with NAV Canada as it monitored the situation.

The FAA said it would manage international flights on a case-by-case basis. U.S. officials said they had not determined a cause. Reports from U.S. media said the White House saw no indication of a deliberate act, and that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the stop was not connected to this week’s global Microsoft 365 outage.

FlightAware reported nearly 7,000 flights into, within or out of the U.S. had been delayed or cancelled by mid-afternoon Eastern time. Shortly before the nationwide order, the FAA had halted traffic in Chicago because of air traffic control communications problems.

Friday’s order was the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The other came in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours after a failure of its pilot-alert system.

The disruption is the latest sign of strain on the U.S. air traffic control system, which has been hit by equipment failures, communications problems and controller shortages while the FAA works to replace aging infrastructure. Congress approved US$12.5 billion for the overhaul last year, and the FAA and the White House asked lawmakers on Friday for another US$30.1 billion, Reuters reported.

The FAA had not said when the ground stop would be lifted. Travellers with U.S. flights this weekend should check their airline’s app or the airport’s departures page for the latest status. This story will be updated as the FAA and Canadian airports release more information.

Sources: Global News, Reuters, FAA statement, Toronto Pearson, Montreal-Trudeau, Vancouver International Airport, NAV Canada.

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