US flights grounded: Passengers face delays as US flights resume following nationwide halt
London Heathrow’s website said an 8.20am flight to Dallas Fort Worth had been cancelled, along with a 9.55am flight to Charlotte and a 10am flight to Houston.
Travellers in the UK are facing disruption after air traffic control problems brought flights to a standstill across the US.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted all flights nationwide for several hours on Friday “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety” following communications problems at regional air traffic control centres.
Whilst disruption is expected at a number of London airports, US bound flights from Edinburgh Airport are scheduled to go ahead as normal.
The 09:25 United service to Newark is due to take off at 09:47am and the American Airlines flight to Philadelphia estimated to depart at 13:15, just over two hours after it’s scheduled departure time.
London Heathrow’s website said an 8.20am flight to Dallas Fort Worth had been cancelled, along with a 9.55am flight to Charlotte and a 10am flight to Houston.
A 10.35am British Airways flight to New York City was also cancelled, while multiple other outgoing flights on US carriers were listed as delayed.
Responding to customers on X, British Airways apologised for possible delays and cancellations.
It also recommended passengers travel to the airport as planned to arrive for the original departure time, unless informed otherwise.
A British Airways spokesperson said: “Following the air traffic control issue in the United States, our flights are operating as normal.
“Whilst this matter was entirely outside of our control, we want to thank our customers for bearing with us, and our colleagues for supporting them and helping to minimise any disruption.”
A spokesman for Manchester Airport said there is not expected to be any “significant” delays on Saturday.
It is understood the situation is expected to have minimal impact on London Gatwick Airport.
Ireland’s Department of Transport advised all US-bound passengers to check with their airline for updates.
It said in a statement: “The Department of Transport has been advised that the US Federal Aviation Administration has on the evening of Nov 13 2026 issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports.
“We understand that some flights currently en route to the US are being permitted to land. The US authorities are handling international flights on a case by case basis.
“This is an evolving situation and the Department advises all passengers who are due to travel to the US on Saturday November 14 to check with their airline for information regarding the status of their flight.”
Late on Friday, Eurocontrol said all US-bound air traffic from its member states had been suspended amid the disruption in the US.
A statement on the organisation’s website said: “To the attention of all Aircraft Operators: 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.
“For more information check ATCSCC Advisory.
“NMOC (Network Manager Operations Centre) is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates accordingly.”
Eurocontrol has 42 member states, including the UK, Ireland, Germany and France, as well as two agreement states – Israel and Morocco.
It is only the second time flights have been grounded across the US since the September 11 terror attacks in 2001.
Flights were halted by the FAA in January 2023 because of a system error.
Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House that the introduction of some new technology into an old air traffic control system overwhelmed it. He could not rule out another outage.
Mr Mullin added “it doesn’t appear” that a cyber attack or rogue artificial intelligence played a role in the incident.
Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said he expected flights around the US to be “back up and operational as we come into the heat of travel” next weekend ahead of the American Thanksgiving holiday, but he also suggested more disruptions might occur.
“We didn’t think we would have this kind of outage. We did,” he said.
“We were able to review what went wrong, and then reboot the system and go. But, you will have more of these.”
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