A nationwide ground stop affecting departing flights across the United States has been lifted after almost five hours, but passengers flying to and from UK airports still face disruption on Saturday.
Manchester Airport has warned that three US-bound Virgin Atlantic flights scheduled to leave on Saturday morning are likely to be affected. London Heathrow's website shows the 8.20am flight to Dallas Fort Worth had been cancelled, along with a number of incoming flights from the US.
Nearly 10,000 flights cancelled
Tracking website Flightradar24 reports that nearly 10,000 flights to and from US airports have been cancelled through Saturday. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines have each cancelled more than 2,200 flights, United has cancelled 1,800, and Southwest nearly 1,400.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the decision to ground all flights from about 9pm UK time was taken due to "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." US Secretary of the Department of Transportation Sean Duffy said the order came "following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers."
Technical issue behind disruption
The disruption was later traced to a technical issue involving an update to the US air traffic control system, with Duffy saying new technology had overwhelmed the ageing network. Officials said there was no indication the incident was caused by a cyber attack or terrorism.
The FAA gradually lifted restrictions, with the nationwide ground stop ending in the early hours of Saturday. However, knock-on delays and cancellations continue as airlines work to get services back on schedule.
According to aviation analytics company Cirium, 22,232 flights were scheduled to depart from US airports on Saturday, around 4,000 more than Friday. More than 30% of flights departing from the US were cancelled on Friday, and more than 5% of flights scheduled for Saturday have already been cancelled. Countries with the most flights to the US cancelled include Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Airlines respond to ground stop
Delta Air Lines said on X: "The FAA-mandated ground stop has been lifted and we are safely resuming flights. We encourage you to check the Delta app or dl.aero/6018xB2cn for flight status and the latest updates. Thank you for your understanding as we work as quickly as possible to fully restore."
A British Airways spokesperson said: "Our flights departing the United States may be delayed due to the ongoing air traffic control issue. Customers are advised to travel to the airport as planned so we can try to depart our aircraft as quickly as possible. This is entirely outside of our control and our teams are working hard to minimise any disruption to our customers."
American Airlines said: "The FAA has temporarily paused departures nationwide. Flights already in the air can continue to their destinations. We expect disruption to our schedule for the rest of the day, depending on the length of the FAA's nationwide ground stop. It will be all hands on deck across American to get customers on their way as soon as possible when the FAA lifts this ground stop."
Eurocontrol suspended all flights departing from the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) area bound for US airports, following a request from the FAA, between 2200 UTC on 13 November and 0500 UTC on 14 November.
At least 827 flights were diverted, including to Washington Dulles International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and Nashville International Airport. Some airports in the US were reportedly running out of space for planes to land, with Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport said to be at capacity and Chicago's O'Hare airport nearing capacity.
