Explainer

What stopped every US departure for four hours, and why is it rare?

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On Friday the thirteenth of November, the FAA halted departures at US airports for 4 hours, starting shortly before four in the afternoon US time. It called the stop a precautionary measure.

4hrs

Nationwide departure haltSource: Deutsche Welle · 14.11.2026

The articles cite only two earlier nationwide halts. The last one the FAA ordered came in 2023, after a pilot-warning outage. Before that, the attacks of 2001 froze flights for two days.

Rarely halted nationwide
  1. 2001Attacks froze flights for two days
  2. 2023Pilot-warning outage, about two hours

Media reports put Friday's cancellations at more than 9000. By Saturday afternoon in Italy, the count stood above 4000.

Flights cancelled, reported as more than
  • Friday 13 November (media reports)9000
  • Saturday 14 November (CNN, 16:48 Italian4000

What stopped it? The FAA cited communication problems at several control centres, and Trump, as Fox News reported, said it did not appear to stem from a cyberattack. Duffy blamed switches and routers clogged with data, and now asks Congress for 50 billion dollars.

$50bn

Upgrade funding requestedSource: Axios · 14.11.2026

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The story

US air traffic outage: FAA halts departures for four hours, 4,363 cancellations followRead the article

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