Reagan National Airport: travellers check in amid chaos
A traveller checks in at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on 13 November 2026, as the FAA's nationwide ground stop disrupted flights across the United States.
A traveller checks in at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on 13 November 2026, as the FAA's nationwide ground stop disrupted flights across the United States.
Passengers crowd the terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on 13 November 2026, as the FAA's nationwide ground stop left thousands of travellers stranded across US airports.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a nationwide ground stop on 13 November 2026 following what U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described as a 'communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.'
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the FAA ground stop was triggered by a 'communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,' visible on disrupted display boards at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on 13 November 2026.
Disrupted flight information boards at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington, Virginia, reflected the scale of the FAA's nationwide ground stop on 13 November 2026, triggered by an air traffic control communications failure.
The FAA's ground stop on 13 November 2026 halted departures at airports across the United States after a communications failure struck all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The FAA lifted its nationwide ground stop on Friday evening, 13 November 2026, after hours of disruption that affected thousands of flights across the country, as seen at Ontario International Airport in Ontario, California.
Passengers wait at Ontario International Airport in Ontario, California on 13 November 2026, after the FAA's nationwide ground stop triggered widespread flight delays that lasted several hours before the halt was lifted on Friday evening.
Thousands of flights across the United States were disrupted on 13 November 2026 as the FAA's nationwide ground stop stretched for hours, with passengers seen waiting at Ontario International Airport in California before the order was finally lifted Friday evening.
The FAA attributed the 13 November 2026 nationwide ground stop to a communications failure affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — disrupting thousands of flights before operations resumed Friday evening.
US air travel resumed on Friday evening, 13 November 2026, after the FAA lifted its nationwide ground stop — ending hours of disruption that had grounded thousands of flights from coast to coast, including at Ontario International Airport in California.