Flight delays and cancellations are expected to linger at Reagan National and Dulles airports after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide ground stop that halted departures across the country for more than four hours tonight (Friday).
The FAA lifted the ground stop around 8:15 p.m., according to Reagan National. It had taken effect shortly before 4 p.m. Even with the order lifted, airlines can’t return to normal operations right away because so many of their planes and crews are out of position, according to the Associated Press.
“It will take time for airlines to rebuild their schedules after a disruption of this scope and magnitude,” Reagan National said in an updated alert around 9 p.m.
The airport said its facilities remained open for passengers, including those without overnight hotel arrangements, and that shops and restaurants would stay open late. Travelers scheduled to fly tomorrow (Saturday) should confirm their flight with their airline before coming to the airport, if possible.
The FAA said the ground stop was imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a communications problem was affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide.
Trump administration officials blamed “overloaded,” “outdated” systems for the outage. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House that the introduction of some new technology into an old air traffic control system overwhelmed it.
Asked whether he could rule out a cyberattack or a rogue artificial intelligence incident, Mullin said, “There’s nothing completely certain right now. It doesn’t appear that way.” He said there were no “footprints” showing an attack and that the outage appeared to be “mechanically driven.” Officials were still looking for the cause.
Mullin had said earlier that investigators would look at whether the problem was linked to the FAA’s nationwide rollout of a new AI system that helps identify problems and reroute planes. That system operates out of one location near D.C. and only sends recommendations to the regional centers, according to the AP.
While the ground stop was in effect, all departing traffic stayed on the ground under the FAA advisory, and inbound international flights were handled case by case. A few international flights took off during the evening from hubs on the East and West coasts.
At least 827 flights had been diverted nationwide as of 7:05 p.m. According to aviation analytics company Cirium, 670 of them went back to the airports they took off from, and 157 were sent somewhere else. Dulles was among the airports where many of the diverted flights ended up, the AP reported.
About 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers had been scheduled to take off from U.S. airports after 4 p.m.
It was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned, and the second since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The federal government has been overhauling the outdated technology air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12.5 billion for the project last year. Duffy has said another $30 billion will be needed to finish the work.
In March, a strong odor at the Potomac TRACON air traffic control facility in Warrenton, which was traced to an overheated circuit board, halted flights regionally at Reagan National, Dulles, BWI and Richmond for more than an hour.
Reagan National is no stranger to ground stops. They have been triggered in recent years by security threats, FAA staffing issues, severe weather and, in July, a VIP visit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
