Washington football among teams impacted by FAA ground stoppage

The Washington Huskies are among several college football teams dealing with an FAA equipment outage, which has led to a ground stoppage for all flights across the United States on Friday. This directive, announced by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, was issued due to a communication issue affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.

Aircraft currently in the air are permitted to land, but all departing planes are grounded until further notice. Washington's team had just missed the cutoff window before the ground stoppage was put into effect. The Huskies had departed Boeing Field and returned to campus, where they are currently awaiting further updates. As of 3:00 p.m. PT, the ground stoppage at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Boeing Field, where the Huskies fly out from, is set to continue until 5:00 p.m. PT.

However, this could change before Washington's game against Michigan State on Saturday afternoon, scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT. The Huskies are one of three Big Ten teams impacted by this outage, alongside Minnesota and Purdue. While the Boilermakers will travel by bus to Iowa, it remains uncertain if the Big Ten will provide alternative transportation for the Huskies.