More than 250 flights delayed at O'Hare, Midway amid nationwide FAA ground stop

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the ground stop in a social media post, saying it stemmed from “a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.”

The Details

By NBC News, NBC Chicago Staff and Matt Stefanski Published 24 minutes ago Updated 5 minutes ago More than 200 flights were delayed at Chicago's airports Friday afternoon after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”

As of 3:11 p.m., the Chicago Department of Aviation reported 213 delays at O'Hare International Airport and another 55 at Midway International Airport. As of 3:53 p.m., overall delays at O’Hare averaged 42 minutes. Arrivals were delayed an average of 53 minutes, while departures were running about 29 minutes behind.

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At Midway, overall delays averaged about 46 minutes. Arrivals were delayed an average of 43 minutes, while departures were running about 52 minutes behind.

In an unusual alert, the FAA said all aircraft operators were notified “by order of the Federal Aviation Command Center” that airports were ground stopped and all departing flights should remain on the ground “until further notice.”

Despite the ground stop, flights already in the air continued to arrive at airports.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the ground stop in a social media post, saying it stemmed from “a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.”

“FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them,” Duffy said.

Air travel

Why FAA says it issued a ground stop for airports nationwide Air travel FAA issues nationwide ground stop ‘due to extraordinary circumstances' and ‘safety' Nationwide ground stops are extremely rare.

The FAA ordered an unprecedented nationwide ground stop following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, halting air traffic and directing planes already in the air to land at the nearest available airports.

Another nationwide ground stop occurred in January 2023, when a failure of the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions system prompted the agency to temporarily halt domestic departures.