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MPR News Staff and Reuters
Washington
Updated:

FAA grounds all departing flights nationwide, halting takeoffs at MSP

Nearly 7,000 US flights delayed or canceled

Exhaust trails from an airplane.
A Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330 airplane leaves a contrail on flight from Las Vegas to Honolulu on May 24, 2026, seen from Thousand Oaks, CA.
Kevin Carter/Getty Images

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The FAA grounded all departing flights nationwide Friday after a communications failure hit air traffic control centers, halting takeoffs at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and delaying or canceling nearly 7,000 flights. Planes already in the air can land, but there is no word yet on when departures will resume.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights nationwide on Friday after a communications failure hit air traffic control centers across the country, halting takeoffs at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and disrupting thousands of flights.

The order means planes already in the air may land, but those on the ground cannot take off. The FAA said it issued the ground stop “due to extraordinary circumstance and reasons for safety” and that “all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice.”

At MSP, an MPR News journalist aboard a plane preparing for takeoff said flights there were halted. The pilot told passengers he had “never seen this before.”

“The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”

Flight tracking service FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled because of the ground stop.

Shortly before the national order, the FAA halted traffic in Chicago due to air traffic control communications issues. The agency said international flights will be managed on a case-by-case basis.

Friday’s halt 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.

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