FAA lifts nationwide ground stop after telecommunications outage disrupts Texas flights

The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide ground stop Friday evening, hours after a telecommunications outage halted departures at airports across Texas and the rest of the country.

The rare order, which was canceled at 7:19 p.m., affected major airports in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and elsewhere in the state.

Nearly 1,000 flights had been delayed or canceled at two of Texas’ busiest airports Friday, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport reported 287 cancellations and 319 delays, while Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport reported 201 cancellations and 149 delays.

During a press conference Friday evening, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said instability in radar and communications systems prompted the nationwide ground stop, citing the country’s aging air traffic control system as a contributing factor. 

For travelers at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the disruption meant hours of uncertainty and scrambling to make alternate plans. Luke Welch, an Arkansas resident, had already taken two flights Friday and was boarding the final leg of his trip when passengers were told the airport was experiencing a “minor issue.”

“We wait about 15 minutes, and they’re like, ‘okay, so we can’t get in contact with air traffic control,’” Welch said. “I start Googling it.”

That’s when Welch learned the problem extended far beyond DFW. He considered renting a car to finish his trip, but by the time he checked, none were available.

For Kimberly Bader, the disruption interrupted a family tradition. She and her siblings were headed to Nashville for their annual trip honoring their late father.

“This was the anniversary of our father passing, and we always take a trip together to celebrate him,” Bader said.

Nationwide ground stops are extremely rare. The FAA last issued one in January 2023, when an outage involving a system used to alert pilots to potential hazards disrupted air travel across the country.

Before that, the FAA had not issued a nationwide ground stop since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

KERA’s Yfat Yossifor and Lillie Davidson contributed to this report.