FAA Ground Stop Hits Palm Springs, Airports Nationwide

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — A nationwide air traffic control communications outage halted departures from Palm Springs International Airport and airports across the country Friday, Nov. 13. The Federal Aviation Administration issued the ground stop shortly before 1 p.m. Pacific for safety. Controllers continued handling aircraft already in the air, and the FAA said inbound international flights would be handled case by case.

For Coachella Valley travelers, the order also held up Palm Springs-bound flights that were still on the ground at other U.S. airports. Friday’s schedule listed early-afternoon departures from PSP to Denver, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Dallas–Fort Worth. The airport’s public flight board displayed older listings when checked, and a current local count of delays and cancellations remained unconfirmed. Travelers and anyone picking up a passenger should check the flight number directly with the airline before heading to the airport.

The FAA’s initial advisory listed 8 p.m. Pacific as the expected end of the restriction. By Friday afternoon, federal officials had yet to confirm when departures could resume. FlightAware showed more than 9,000 delays on flights within, into or out of the United States by 2:19 p.m. Pacific. The figure was a running total for the day and included delays from other causes.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating a communications problem affecting all 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers, which guide planes between airports. The FAA had already halted traffic at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports before issuing the nationwide order. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the disruption as a telecommunications outage and said officials had seen no indication of a deliberate attack. The underlying cause remained under investigation.

It was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a failure in the FAA’s system for distributing safety notices to pilots briefly halted domestic departures. Passengers with connecting flights should check both legs of their trip with the airline and ask about rebooking if a delay puts their connection at risk.