British Airways has cancelled a New York-bound flight from London Heathrow, and Virgin Atlantic flights from Manchester Airport face disruption, after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a nationwide ground stop following an air traffic control communications outage.
The FAA halted all flights across the United States "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." British Airways has already axed a New York-bound flight that had been scheduled to depart London Heathrow at 10.30pm on Friday. A spokesman for Manchester Airport confirmed that three US-bound departures planned for Saturday morning, all operated by Virgin Atlantic, are expected to be impacted should the situation persist.
Airlines respond to the ground stop
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: "We're aware of the ground stop order issued by the Federal Aviation Administration for all US airports. We're closely monitoring the situation and assessing any impact to our flights. We advise any customers due to travel to check their flight status at virginatlantic.com."
US transportation secretary Sean Duffy disclosed that the FAA is investigating a communications problem affecting regional air traffic control centres, according to the Associated Press. This represents just the second occasion flights have been suspended across the US since the September 11 terror attacks in 2001, with the FAA having previously grounded flights in January 2023 owing to a system malfunction.
Officials reassure the public
US homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin sought to calm public concern, saying: "There is no reason for the public to be afraid or scared for your loved ones. This isn't another 9/11... This is a telecommunications outage. Throughout FAA, out of abundant of caution, we have grounded all the flights, and all the flights are accounted for. As incoming flights, either internationally or the flights that are currently still in the air, we'll be dealing with those case by case. As you can imagine, there will be a priority list as they start coming in."
Mr Mullin added: "Everybody is safe. There is no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they're flying or anything like that. I just want to make sure everybody's at ease about that. There is no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against us. It's just a telecommunication outage as of right now."
Mr Mullin acknowledged the gravity of the situation, calling it "a crisis." He elaborated: "Every agency that has an asset that is involved in this... we're all working together. But that's what we do, right? I don't want to get to say that this is a crisis but it is because we had to do a nationwide ground stoppage."
Despite this, Mr Mullin expressed confidence in the handling of the situation: "It's what the government works well at. That's what we're here for, and so we are well positioned and communicating very well. The president took a lead in this immediately, and he gave us the assets and the communication to move forward in a fast way."
Mr Mullin warned that resolving the disruption would require "some time," urging the public not to expect matters to be "turned around within the hour." "This is going to take some time, but once again, everybody is safe," he said. "The flights are accounted for, and there should be no fear to the public at all."
Impact on airline schedules
An American Airlines spokesperson confirmed: "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."
