The Federal Aviation Administration ended its nationwide pause on U.S. departures Friday night after telecom problems disrupted communications and radar used for air traffic control, reopening departures at airports nationwide.
The FAA lifted the order at 8:15 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 13 (1:15 UTC Nov. 14). The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said intermittent telecom failures affected communications and radar operations used by air traffic controllers. Under the FAA advisory, airports were to pause departures for safety and assess arriving international flights individually.
Microsoft said it had “no indication” that its services were linked to the FAA order, as described in Microsoft’s response to the ground stop.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said normal flight operations would take time to return. He said airport capacity and staffing would shape how quickly schedules recovered, with disruption potentially continuing through the weekend.
