Nationwide ground stop cancels 2,000 flights as Denver airport recovers
A four-hour shutdown of air traffic control systems stranded passengers and forced sports teams to reschedule games across the country.
By Neha Kapoor ·
More than 2,000 flights were canceled nationwide during the longest ground stop in 25 years. The disruption forced airlines to scramble on Saturday to recover operations. The stoppage left passengers stranded at airports and forced professional and college sports teams to find alternate transportation.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported that 471 flights were canceled and 603 were delayed at Denver International Airport as of late Friday. Airport and FAA officials said operations are normalizing. They advised passengers to contact their airlines regarding specific cancellations or delays. A limited number of domestic flights departed after the stop was lifted around 8:15 p.m. ET Friday.
Officials from the Trump administration said new technology added to the nation’s air traffic control system overloaded antiquated equipment. This caused intermittent communications and radar gaps. The issue led to the flight shutdown, which lasted more than four hours. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed Congress for failing to approve more funding for new technology. He suggested that more disruptions might occur in the future.
Passengers across the U.S. experienced significant delays. Emily Brown and her 14-year-old daughter waited more than four hours at the Dallas airport for a flight to Columbus, Ohio, before giving up. Brown said her daughter had saved money to buy her own ticket for the surprise trip. They were unsure when they would be able to go. At Los Angeles International Airport, Ruth Coles was stuck on her plane for more than five hours after landing from Newark, New Jersey. She said passengers were told they were waiting for a gate to open.
The ground stop affected sports schedules nationwide. Auburn University’s football team took a bus to Mississippi State, and the Saturday start time was pushed back from noon ET to 4:15 p.m. Other universities affected included Baylor, Washington, Kansas State, Minnesota, and No. 19 Ole Miss. Ole Miss did not plan to fly until Saturday morning for its game against Oklahoma. Duffy encouraged NCAA football teams to reach out to the FAA so the agency could prioritize flights for Saturday games.
According to FlightAware, more than 2,500 flights were canceled in the U.S. on Saturday, and hundreds more were delayed. The disruption also spread to international routes. At London’s Heathrow Airport, several flights to and from the U.S. were listed as delayed or canceled on Saturday. These included American Airlines flights to Dallas and Los Angeles, and a British Airways flight to New York’s JFK Airport. Tim Johnson, consumer director at the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, said there may be follow-on disruption as airlines work to rebook affected passengers.
Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House that no one was in danger during the event. More than 3,000 flights safely landed Friday. Duffy stated that the failure was not linked to the FAA’s new AI-powered system. He said the issue involved old legacy equipment. The FAA has replaced thousands of old copper wires with fiber optic lines and upgraded hundreds of radio systems as part of an overhaul that began last year. The White House is pushing for $30 billion more to complete the work.
