The Federal Aviation Administration has lifted a nationwide ground stop, allowing flights across the U.S. to resume after halting takeoffs for several hours Friday evening.
But travelers will face significant disruptions through the weekend as airlines unwind one of the most significant disruptions to air travel in decades.
At 8:15pm EST, the FAA began allowing flights to operate, the Trump administration said. It came after a four-hour ground stop that stranded flyers at airports across the country.
Most departing flights in the U.S.were grounded indefinitely late Friday afternoon after the FAA reported communication issues impacting air traffic control centers.
The fallout for travelers was severe, affecting thousands of flights — a meltdown that was likely to cascade across multiple days.
More than 6,000 departures had been canceled as of 8:45 p.m. Friday evening, according to FlightAware. At least 1,400 departures for Saturday had been scrapped.
That number is likely to rise sharply as airlines work to get operations back on track.
“It’s going to take us some time to unwind what’s happened,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at a news conference Friday evening.
Friday’s communications outage occurred during an upgrade to FAA technology, officials said.
The disruption marked only the second time since 9/11 that a ground stop affecting the entire nation had been issued
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Airlines issue flexible travel waivers
Airlines issued travel advisories in the midst of the travel chaos. These waivers typically allow passengers with flights booked more flexibility to change their itineraries:
Some departures continued
Some departures continued, despite the wide-ranging ground stop.
In a social media post, United Airlines said international departures were being managed on a case-by-case basis, the carrier reported.
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Alaska Air Group, which owns Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, said flights within the state of Alaska were still cleared to operate. Neighbor island service in Hawaii was also unaffected. Departures from the West Coast to Hawaii were also continuing, a spokesperson said.
What to do if your flight is impacted
Passengers whose flights are canceled or significantly delayed are entitled to a refund if they choose not to travel or accept a rebooked flight, regardless of the reason for the disruption.
Under Department of Transportation rules, a significant delay generally means arriving at your final destination at least three hours late on a domestic itinerary or six hours late on an international itinerary. For passengers who decide to not travel on those flights, airlines must provide refunds to the original form of payment, not just travel credits.
In large-scale travel disruptions like this, rental cars and hotel rooms at or near airports can book up quickly, so it can make sense to act fast if you want to secure a backup option.
If you have airline miles you can use to book a flight for tomorrow, that can also be a good self-insurance policy in case the disruption isn’t resolved quickly. Just make sure you understand the cancellation and refund rules before booking a backup ticket.
And while many rewards credit cards offer built-in trip delay or cancellation protection if you used them to book your original airline tickets, it’s not guaranteed that those benefits will cover FAA groundings of this nature. Still, save your receipts for any unexpected expenses in case you’re eligible for reimbursement.
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