U.S. flights restart after nationwide halt as weekend disruption persists

Flights in the United States resumed Saturday, Nov. 14, after a nationwide departure halt that lasted more than four hours on Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration lifted the ground stop at 8:15 p.m. ET Friday, but the disruption was expected to continue through the weekend as travelers faced thousands of delays and cancellations.

FlightAware figures showed more than 6,200 delays and more than 3,400 cancellations as of early Saturday. Although departures had been cleared to restart, the end of the nationwide restriction did not bring an immediate end to the travel disruption. The effects extended to sports teams trying to reach their destinations for games scheduled this weekend.

In a Saturday post on X, the FAA confirmed that it had removed the ground stop and that some departures were resuming. The agency said passenger safety remained its highest priority. It also said it had thoroughly tested its systems before authorizing flights to restart, checking that the systems were stable and operations remained reliable.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the problem to telecommunications routers becoming overloaded with data. Speaking about the equipment, he said: "They went down." The nationwide halt on Friday prevented flight departures for more than four hours before the FAA allowed them to resume that evening.

The travel difficulties affected NBA, NHL and college teams, which struggled to get to their destinations in time for weekend games. During a Friday press briefing, Duffy said college football teams using charter flights could be given priority. He encouraged those teams to contact the FAA to arrange flight times so their Saturday games could go ahead.

The Southeastern Conference announced on X that the flight disruption had prompted some games to be moved to Sunday. In a separate statement shared on the platform, the conference said it was communicating closely with its member institutions to evaluate possible disruptions and coordinate responses.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also addressed the disruption Friday, describing the air traffic control system as "outdated" and a "national security risk." Speaking to reporters, he said there was no evidence of a cyberattack or an attack involving artificial intelligence.