The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted all flights nationwide for approximately four hours on Friday, November 13, 2026, after communications problems surfaced at regional air traffic control centers. The ground stop was triggered by technical faults related to integrating new technology into the existing US air traffic control system. US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed no cyber attack or rogue artificial intelligence was involved, attributing the outage to system overwhelm. This was the longest US-wide air traffic shutdown since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
London Heathrow and Gatwick Flight Cancellations and Delays
As of 9:45 a.m. on November 14, 2026, London Heathrow Airport reported 31
cancelled flights to and from the US along with around 20 delayed departures. Among cancellations was an 8:20 a.m. flight from Heathrow to Dallas Fort Worth. At London Gatwick, three flights arriving from Orlando, Florida, scheduled for 7:30 a.m. on November 14 were cancelled. The disruption extended late into the weekend, reflecting the ripple effects of the FAA ground stop.
Airline Actions and Passenger Advice
British Airways cancelled its 10:30 p.m. London Heathrow flight to New York on November 13 and advised passengers to still travel to the airport to minimise disruption. A British Airways spokesperson stated, “Customers are advised to travel to the airport
as planned so we can try to depart our aircraft as quickly as possible. This is entirely outside of our control and our teams are working hard to minimise any disruption to our customers.” Virgin Atlantic similarly cancelled its November 13 Heathrow to New York JFK flight and urged travellers to monitor flight status at virginatlantic.com.
Aer Lingus allowed flights en route to the US to land but held flights departing from the US. The airline advised customers to check aerlingus.com for updates. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) warned of ongoing follow-on disruption and instructed passengers to verify airline
status before traveling. CAA consumer director Tim Johnson said, “While US flights have resumed, there may be some follow-on disruption as airlines work to re-book affected passengers and get all services back to normal.”
European Airspace Suspension
Eurocontrol suspended all US-bound flights from its 42 member states, including the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Israel, and Morocco, between 2200 UTC on November 13 and 0500 UTC on November 14, 2026, at the FAA’s request. The organisation stated, “On request of FAA due to technical issues all traffic departing within IFPZ (Eurocontrol member states) between 2200 UTC on 13 NOV and 0500 UTC on 14
NOV, bound for US airports is suspended.” This measure magnified the disruption on transatlantic routes affecting airports such as London Heathrow and Gatwick.
US Government Response and Future Outlook
US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the cause was new technology overwhelming an old air traffic control system, ruling out cyber or AI interference. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy anticipated flights would return to normal operations by the following weekend ahead of Thanksgiving but warned that further disruptions could occur. Duffy stated, “We were able to review what went wrong, and then reboot the system and go. But, you will have more of these.”
