A temporary system outage at the Federal Aviation Administration’s Minneapolis air traffic control facility on August 20, 2026, caused flights into and out of Minnesota and nine other Midwest states to be diverted or held on the ground. The affected region spans parts of Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and neighboring states.
The outage disrupted air travel throughout the Midwest, with flight cancellations, ground holds, and diversions reported. Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport experienced average delays of 90 minutes that evening. Other airports across the region continued to face delays as the situation unfolded.
The outage impacted
radar and air traffic control systems at the Minneapolis facility, which manages air traffic over an area of approximately 330,000 square miles. Although the systems were restored later on August 20, disruptions persisted at several airports within the large airspace served by the facility.
FAA Confirms Outage Details
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the outage occurred at the Minneapolis air traffic control center and not at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. The FAA explained that the affected systems included radar and other air traffic control infrastructure essential for maintaining flight operations across the Midwest. The agency reported ongoing delays into the evening at various
airports within the nine-state area.
