A system failure at the Minneapolis air traffic control facility on August 20, 2026, caused widespread flight disruptions across Minnesota and nine other Midwest states. The outage affected radar and air traffic control systems responsible for managing flights over a 330,000 square mile area.
The disruption impacted airports throughout Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Flights arriving in and departing from the region were either diverted to alternative airports or held on the ground due to the loss of air traffic control capabilities.
Flight operations were severely disrupted with some flights grounded and others rerouted,
leading to delays across multiple airports within the affected states. Although the air traffic control systems were later restored, numerous airports continued to experience ongoing delays into the evening of August 20.
Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), while not directly affected by the outage at its local facility, recorded average delays of 90 minutes on Thursday evening as ripple effects from the air traffic management failure spread through the region.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the outage and said that the affected systems came back online later on August 20. Despite restoration, disruptions persisted at several airports covered by the
Minneapolis air traffic control facility.
Passengers in Minnesota and the surrounding states experienced flight diversions and substantial delays that continued throughout Thursday evening, impacting air travel schedules across the Midwest on August 20, 2026.
