Nationwide ground stop delays UW football team, could affect Seahawks travel
Nov 13, 2026, 1:24 PM | Updated: 3:37 pm
A Delta Air Lines plane and a United Airlines plane are seen at Denver International Airport. (File photo: David Zalubowski, AP)
(File photo: David Zalubowski, AP)
A ground stop has been issued for all airports nationwide by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The stop was issued “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” NBC News reported.
The ground stop followed a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy stated on X.
The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following 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.
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 13, 2026
According to The Associated Press, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication that “this was a nefarious attack against us. It’s just a telecommunications outage.”
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) has reported 394 delays and 56 cancellations Friday, according to FlightAware.
“We are aware of the ground stop affecting departing flights out of SEA and airports nationwide,” a spokesperson for the Port of Seattle said in a statement to KIRO Newsradio. “We encourage passengers to check with their airlines for their latest flight status. We’ll post any updates on our social media channels as we have them.”
Microsoft says no indication its outage is linked to ground stop
Questions emerged about whether the incident may be a cyberattack.
“It may not be a cybersecurity incident, but it might be a resiliency and network-related incident enough for the cyber people to care,” Cristin Flynn Goodwyn, a globally recognized leader in cybersecurity, told KIRO Newsradio.
The ground stop comes amid a global Microsoft 365 services outage. However, The New York Times reported that Microsoft stated there is no indication the ground stop is related to its outage.
“Question number one: Is there an incident like something Iran-related? Everybody’s been disclaiming that,” Goodwyn added. “Then, question number two becomes: Is it continuity-related? Is there something, because of the disruption and stability of Microsoft services, that is making the FAA think there’s something about the connections in the air traffic control system that is necessitating a ground stop?”
UW football team returns to campus after ground stop halts Michigan trip
The ground stop is affecting travel for several college football teams, including the University of Washington (UW), a spokesperson confirmed to KIRO Newsradio.
UW was getting ready to fly to Michigan when the ground stop occurred. The team left the airport and will return to campus while they work out another form of transportation.
The Seattle Seahawks could also be impacted.
“We’ll play it by ear, and obviously we’ll adjust to how we need to adjust,” Seahawks Head Coach Mike Macdonald said. “So we have a plan for tomorrow, and we’re leaving tomorrow, which helps, obviously. So we’re trying to leave tomorrow.”
KIRO fill-in host Angela Poe Russell grounded on Cabo runway
KIRO fill-in host Angela Poe Russell is stuck in her plane on the runway in Cabo.
“We were getting ready to take off, like literally on the runway, about to take off,” she told KIRO Newsradio. “And we got word from the pilot that the FAA has basically said they can’t take off.”
Poe Russell said anyone who was already in the air was trying to get a hold of whoever they could.
“I’m personally feeling grateful that we’re not in the air, because that’s a scary prospect,” she added.
Ground stop comes as FAA upgrades aging air traffic control systems
The Associated Press noted this is the first nationwide ground stop since 2023, when an FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that was Sept. 11, 2001.
Federal officials are upgrading the aging systems used by air traffic controllers with $12.5 billion approved by Congress last year. The work includes replacing copper wiring with fiber-optic lines and updating airport radio equipment.
Duffy said completing the overhaul will require another $30 billion. The White House is pressing Congress to approve that additional funding.
Contributing: Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest; The Associated Press
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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