US grounds flights nationwide after air traffic control communications outage

WASHINGTON — The US Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights nationwide on Friday after a communications failure hit air traffic control centers, in only the second such shutdown since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Planes already in the air were allowed to land, but those on the ground could not take off. The disruption is the latest and most dramatic sign of strain on a US air traffic control system beset by equipment and communications failures, controller shortages and aging infrastructure. “The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X. Airline officials said the FAA had not indicated when the ground stop might be lifted, but there were preliminary indications the communications issues were improving in some plac