Nationwide ground stops are exceptionally rare in the United States, but they are not a distant memory for many travelers.
The last nationwide ground stop came in the early morning of Jan. 11, 2023, and lasted around 90 minutes. The disruption came after a system to alert pilots of real-time dangers went down.
The NOTAM alerts, short for Notice to Air Missions, include updates on hazards like closed runways, airspace restrictions and signal disruptions. The F.A.A. said at the time there was no evidence the outage was caused by a cyberattack. The agency ordered airlines to halt departing flights just before 7:30 a.m., and the pause was lifted about 9 a.m. Flights already airborne were allowed to land at their destinations.
But the travel headaches spilled over to many passengers as airlines struggled to get their schedules back on track. By that afternoon, about 9,000 flights had been delayed and 1,300 had been canceled.
More than two decades earlier, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks led to what was at the time an unprecedented ground stop. All airborne planes were ordered to land at the closest available airport.
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