Passengers wait at Logan International Airport after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a nationwide ground flight suspension order "due to extraordinary circumstances and safety reasons," following an earlier agency report on serious communications problems in air traffic control, in East Boston, Massachusetts, USA, November 13, 2026 — Photo: Brian Snyder/REUTERS
The total shutdown of United States airports, which occurred for approximately four hours on Friday night (13), generated a ripple effect both in the country and around the world, including in Brazil. Services resumed at 10:20 pm Brasília time.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration took the rare step of stopping all flights in the country, the second since the attacks of September 11, 2001, due to a communications failure (read more below).
The United States is the largest passenger market in the world. In 2025, 890.1 million passengers were registered, considering arrivals and departures, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Within the United States, trains were overwhelmed by the demand from passengers looking for alternatives without the possibility of flying. There were spikes in searches for reservations, according to Amtrak, the federal company responsible for the national train service.
Total shutdown of airports
More than 10,000 flights are delayed or canceled, according to monitoring website FlightAware. The FAA has not yet given a forecast, but lifted the national suspension of takeoffs at around 10:20 pm (Brasília time).
United States Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said the government has no evidence that the outage was caused by an attack. According to him, the problem is related to a temporary failure in telecommunications services.
TV Globo learned from a source who works in a control tower at a New York airport that the problem is related to a crossing of radio frequencies.
As a result, more than one aircraft can transmit messages at the same time on the same frequency, which makes communication with controllers difficult. In practice, professionals cannot clearly identify which plane is talking to the tower.
"If the suspension of takeoffs continues into the evening, it will likely be necessary to wait until the weekend to resolve the impacts on airline operations," said Robert Mann, aviation analyst and director of consultancy R.W. Mann & Co, to Reuters, before the suspension was lifted and airports reopened.
👉 Some international flights originating in the United States were authorized to take off even during the national suspension of operations, according to the air monitoring website Flightradar24. Aircraft departing from Boston and New York bound for Europe and Asia managed to take off after delays, according to the platform's records, cited by The New York Times.
Suspension has global impact
In Brazil, the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) reported that it monitored the situation of grounded flights in the USA and recommended that passengers contact airlines to check the status of their flight or possible changes.
The closure of American airports affected flights from other countries to the USA. There were 15 flights from Guarulhos International Airport alone, the busiest airport in Brazil, between scheduled takeoffs until midnight.
Of these 15 flights, four were cancelled, two were delayed and nine were confirmed until the most recent update from the airport manager, made at 9:30 pm this Friday.
Eurocontrol, the organization responsible for coordinating air traffic in Europe, reported that it has suspended all traffic originating in member countries and arriving at airports in the United States, at the request of the FAA.
Investigation
United States Secretary of Transport, Sean Duffy, stated that the failure affected all control centers responsible for traffic on the country's air routes. FAA technicians are investigating the problem, he said.
Microsoft, which faced technical problems this Thursday (12), states that "there is no indication" that the suspension of flights in the USA is related to the company's services.
Bloomberg reported that the FBI does not believe the communications problem was caused by a cyber attack or criminal action.
According to the news agency, American police are investigating whether a software update may have caused the FAA systems to fail.
Map of planes in US airspace — Photo: Reproduction/Flightradar24
The episode occurred amid a series of problems in the United States' air traffic control system, which is facing equipment failures, communication problems and a lack of controllers.
The government is trying to modernize the structure, which is aging. Last year, Congress approved $12.5 billion to reform the system. This Friday (13), the FAA and the White House asked parliamentarians for an additional US$30.1 billion to resolve other problems.
