The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon because of communications problems at regional air traffic control centers.. The FAA notice said the ground stop was being imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”
At least one plane — Alaska Airlines’ AS533 — was diverted to Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT), according to flightstats.com. It left Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 10:26 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive at around noon at San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.
Three more planes returned to the gate at FAT to deplane Friday afternoon. The groundstop was expected to last several hours.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications issue affecting the regional air traffic control centers that direct planes between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating. This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023 when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
FAT had several departures delayed on its overhead display board Friday afternoon, including flights to Denver, Oakland, Phoenix, Seattle and San Diego.
A spokesperson for the Fresno airport referred questions about the stoppage to the FAA.
“While we would typically be happy to address the public on matters affecting air travel in Fresno and Central Valley, we are not able to provide any additional information or insight beyond what the FAA provides,” the spokesperson said in an email.
As of 2:19 p.m., flight tracking website FlightAware.com reported a total of 24,313 flight delays — 9,086 of which were into or out of the U.S. There were also 1,249 cancellations — including 652 in the U.S.
