The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday for all airlines "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications issue affecting the regional air traffic control centers that direct planes between airports nationwide.
Thrifty Traveler's Kyle Potter reports that air traffic control facilities across the country began experiencing issues.
This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023 when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2011 terrorist attacks.
A spokesperson at Minneapolis-St. Paul International confirmed to WCCO it is an equipment outage, but did not provide specifics on what equipment is affected.
The government has been working to overhaul the outdated technology that air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12.5 billion for the project last year. Miles of old copper wires have been replaced with fiber optic lines and old radio systems are gradually being replaced at airports across the country.
But much work remains. Duffy has said that another $30 billion will be needed to complete the work, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress to approve it.
