Nationwide flight ban in the US in 2026

The nationwide flight ban in the US (‘ground stop’) has since been lifted by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but the fallout is causing massive delays and flight cancellations throughout the weekend – including on transatlantic routes.

On Friday evening, 13 November 2026 (US time, at approximately 15:54 ET / 21:54 CET), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a nationwide take-off ban due to a serious telecommunications and systems failure at regional air traffic control centres. After just over four hours, airspace was reopened at around 8.15 pm ET (2.15 am CET).

US Secretary of Transport Sean Duffy and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin emphasised that there was no evidence whatsoever of a cyberattack or act of terrorism. Instead, they said, the problem was caused by overloaded switches and routers in the outdated air traffic control infrastructure.

During the disruption, European and British authorities, as well as airlines (including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic), temporarily suspended flights to the US. Aircraft already in the air were permitted to land or were diverted.

Current situation at the weekend

According to data from FlightAware and media reports, over 6,000 to 7,000 flights were cancelled on Friday and more than 8,000 were delayed. Over 1,400 further cancellations have already been reported for Saturday. As travel expert Simon Calder and Transport Minister Duffy explain, it will take several days for the flight schedule to return to normal. This is due to aircraft and crews not being at their scheduled locations, as well as cabin crew exceeding statutory working hours.

Airports in the UK and mainland Europe are urging passengers travelling to the US this weekend to check their flight status directly with their airline before travelling to the airport.