On August 20, 2026, a system outage at the Federal Aviation Administration’s Minneapolis air traffic control facility led to the grounding and diversion of flights across Minnesota and nine additional Midwest states.
The affected FAA facility manages air traffic over a 330,000 square-mile region covering multiple states. The outage impacted radar and air traffic control systems but did not occur at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) itself.
Midwest States and Flight Disruptions
The outage disrupted flights in Minnesota, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Airlines operating in these states faced grounded or diverted flights, with delays expected to continue throughout Thursday
evening at various regional airports.
Delays at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport averaged 90 minutes on Thursday evening, reflecting the ongoing operational strain despite the restoration of air traffic control systems. Flights headed into and departing nine affected Midwest states were diverted or held on the ground during the outage.
FAA Response
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that flights were grounded as a safety measure during the system outage at the Minneapolis air traffic control center. While the radar and control systems were temporarily offline, the FAA worked to restore normal operations promptly, although disruptions remained at multiple airports across the region.
