Flight disruptions stretched into Saturday and could continue through the weekend as airlines struggled to recover from the Federal Aviation Administration’s longest nationwide ground stop since 9/11. The Trump administration blamed the sweeping halt on a communications equipment failure affecting air traffic control.
More than 3,700 U.S. flights had been canceled Saturday, while close to 2,000 were delayed as of 9:40 a.m. ET, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. The mounting disruptions followed an even more punishing day for passengers and carriers.
About 9,000 U.S. flights were canceled Friday and more than 7,000 were delayed. Some of those interruptions were caused by bad weather, adding another complication as airlines worked to restore their schedules after the federal ground stop.
A central challenge for carriers was getting aircraft back to the airports where they were needed. The ground stop forced many planes to divert elsewhere, leaving airlines to reposition equipment while also trying to move stranded travelers and employees.
Airlines operate one of their lightest schedules on Saturday, giving them some room to untangle the disruption. Carriers were deploying as many spare planes and crews as possible in hopes of starting fresh before the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday travel period.
Around 3 million people would typically be scheduled to fly on Saturday, according to aviation data firm Cirium. That volume increased the pressure on airlines as cancellations and delays continued to accumulate during the morning.
The FAA halted departing U.S. flights around 4 p.m. Friday, and the nationwide ground stop lasted more than four hours. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said overloaded routers began giving air traffic control centers inconsistent information, prompting the government to stop departures.
Duffy blamed outdated U.S. infrastructure for the failure and said Congress needs to approve more funding for an overhaul of the country’s air traffic control system. Aging equipment and a shortage of air traffic controllers have angered airline executives for years because of the costs created by disruptions.
The nationwide action was only the second such FAA ground stop since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Trump administration officials said the communications failure did not appear to be a cyberattack.
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“Before clearing flights to resume, we thoroughly tested our systems to confirm they were stable and that operations remain reliable,” the FAA said late Friday. Even after the order was lifted, airlines faced the difficult process of rebuilding schedules and moving aircraft into position.
The consequences extended beyond ordinary passenger travel. NBA, NHL and college teams struggled to reach their destinations in time for games scheduled during the weekend, forcing some teams to pursue alternative travel arrangements.
Duffy said college football teams traveling on charter flights could receive priority as officials worked through the disruption. He encouraged teams to contact the FAA directly about their planned departure times.
“I would encourage those football teams to reach out to the FAA to schedule their flight times and make sure they have games going off tomorrow,” Duffy said during a Friday press briefing. The scheduling problems soon produced changes across college football.
The Southeastern Conference announced on X that some games had been moved to Sunday because of the flight disruption. The decision showed how the aviation breakdown spread beyond airports and into major weekend sporting events.
“We are in close communication with our member institutions to assess potential disruptions and coordinate appropriate responses,” the SEC said in a statement shared on X. Meanwhile, airlines continued using available crews and spare aircraft to restore operations ahead of the Thanksgiving travel period.