A sudden FAA ground stop strands teams and throws the sports weekend into chaos

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop for all airports on Friday due to a communications issue affecting air traffic control. According to ABC News (US), Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin attributed the ground stop to a telecommunications outage but stated there was no indication of a nefarious attack.

The FAA cited extraordinary circumstances and safety reasons for the order. While some flights headed to other countries are being permitted to depart, ABC News (US) reported that more than 1,000 flights have been canceled.

The outage has left several college football teams unable to travel for scheduled games. The Hill reports that four Big 12 schools, including Baylor University, Kansas State University, University of Utah, and Arizona State University, are impacted. Front Office Sports notes that the Big Ten confirmed Minnesota, Purdue, and Washington are affected, while all ACC football teams are at their respective sites except for Oregon State, which has yet to depart for a game at Boise State.

Additionally, the University of Southern California women’s basketball team is grounded in Los Angeles.

Major airlines are providing travel advisories and waivers. Delta is allowing passengers to change flights for Friday and Saturday at no extra cost, while United is waiving change fees and fare differences for new flights departing between November 12, 2026, and November 20, 2026.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Hill, ABC News (US), Front Office Sports, CBS News — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.