Travel chaos worsens as communications problem causes ground stop at all U.S. airports while European airlines reel from wave of bomb threats

Millions of U.S. travelers faced uncertainty on Friday after the FAA declared a nationwide halt at all airports across the country. While flights already airborne were permitted to land, any planes remaining on the ground were grounded. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the issue to communication problems affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.

"FAA technicians are currently examining the situation," he posted on X. Although recent hacking incidents have targeted freezers in Europe and U.S. military bases, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters the administration had no reason to believe foul play was involved. "This isn't another 9/11," he emphasized, clarifying that this was a telecommunications outage rather than a terrorist attack.

Despite the widespread disruption, Mullin reassured the public that the issue would be resolved, though it would take some time. Meanwhile, European airlines faced a series of false bomb threats during the same week, though only one flight was diverted to a military base in France, suggesting all were hoaxes. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares warned that Europe seemed to be experiencing "hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare."

Meanwhile, consumers grappled with the aftermath of a recent Microsoft outage that caused widespread service disruptions, though the National Weather Service denied any disruption to its radar systems. Speculation about the cause of the FAA communications issue circulated online, with some suggesting it may have been linked to an AI tool the agency had recently deployed.

The FAA had not issued a nationwide ground stop since 2023, when a similar disruption lasted for several hours. Earlier this year, flights at New York airports were briefly halted after a contractor accidentally severed a fiber communications line in New Jersey.