U.S. FAA lifts nationwide ground stop that cancelled thousands of flights around the world. Live updates here.

Summary

• The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide ground stop caused by a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, allowing departures to resume.
• This was only the second nationwide ground stop in the U.S. since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
• Canada's major airlines cancelled all flights to and from the U.S., with Air Canada noting potential impacts on flights to the Caribbean and South America due to U.S. airspace transit.
• Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon stated Canada is ready to provide full assistance to the FAA, including accommodating U.S.-bound aircraft if needed.
• NAV CANADA implemented traffic management measures at major Canadian airports while confirming its own systems are operating normally.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed there is no indication of a security threat or nefarious attack behind the outage.
• Officials clarified the issue is unrelated to the FAA's new AI-powered SMART system or recent Microsoft service disruptions.
• International flights bound for Europe were suspended by European aviation authorities until midnight, while flights to Hawaii and Asia were cleared to depart from San Francisco.
• Sports teams across the NBA, NHL, and NFL faced significant travel disruptions with games and schedules left in limbo.
• Amtrak reported website and call center outages due to high call volumes from passengers affected by the airline grounding.
• Canadian airports including Toronto Pearson, Montreal-Trudeau, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Ottawa reported cancellations or delays for U.S.-bound flights.
• The FAA confirmed all flights were accounted for and stated international departures would be handled on a case-by-case basis.