The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted all nationwide flights for approximately four hours on 13 November 2026 due to communications failures at regional air traffic control centres. The shutdown led to the cancellation of about 10,000 flights to and from the United States. US airspace reopened shortly after 1:30am GMT on 14 November, though officials warned that disruptions could persist for several days.
London Heathrow Airport recorded 31 cancelled flights to and from the US on 14 November, alongside around 20 delayed departures. Gatwick Airport cancelled three flights scheduled to arrive from Orlando, Florida at 7:30am that same day.
British Airways cancelled a New York-bound flight from Heathrow set for 10:30pm on 13 November, while Virgin Atlantic cancelled a Heathrow to New York JFK flight on 13 November. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) cautioned passengers about ongoing follow-on disruption as airlines work to rebook affected travellers and resume normal operations.
British Airways advised customers to travel to the airport as planned to allow swift departures where possible, acknowledging the situation was outside of its control. A spokesperson said, “Our flights departing the United States may be delayed due to the ongoing air traffic control issue. 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 urged customers to check flight status at virginatlantic.com, confirming awareness of the FAA ground stop order and ongoing flight assessments.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the reopening of US airspace but anticipated that flight disruptions might continue in the coming days. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin attributed the outage to the integration of new technology into an aging
air traffic control system and explicitly ruled out cyber attack or rogue artificial intelligence involvement as causes. Mullin stated the telecommunications failure overwhelmed the system, and additional outages could not be ruled out.
Eurocontrol, overseeing air traffic among 42 member states including the UK, Ireland, Germany, and France, suspended all US-bound flights between 2200 UTC on 13 November and 0500 UTC on 14 November 2026 at the FAA’s request. Eurocontrol’s Network Manager Operations Centre closely monitored the situation and provided updates throughout the disruption.
The grounding and cancellations affected thousands of passengers travelling between the UK and US. Heathrow and
Gatwick airports advised travellers to verify flight statuses before traveling, with the UK Civil Aviation Authority recommending passengers check with airlines for updates amid the ongoing rebooking and recovery efforts.
