Faulty equipment in an “incredibly old” telecommunication system may have caused an air traffic control issue, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says.
In a press briefing on Saturday, he said a contractor was doing routine maintenance to upgrade copper wire to fibre optic cable when something went wrong.
Officials are now investigating whether the error was due to “incompetence” or a “faulty router,” he added.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says American air travel is expected to be back to normal by the end of Sunday, but an aviation expert tells CTV News that there’s no guarantee.
The ripple effects of the hours-long freeze have been felt by Canadian travellers at airports across the country as they deal with flight delays and hundreds of cancellations.
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Key details:
- U.S. FAA administrator promises the 'worst is behind us'
- No guarantee flights will recover fully by end of Sunday: expert
- Thousands of flights cancelled, including hundreds in Canada
- U.S. government: New technology overloaded antiquated equipment
- Contractor says it's supporting investigation, taking impact 'seriously'
- Nearly five-outage having widespread residual impacts globally
Losing comms, surveillance is ‘disturbing’: analyst
An aviation analyst called the loss of both voice communication and surveillance data “disturbing.”
Peter Lemme, a former Boeing flight controls engineer, told CTV News Channel that generally, communications, navigation and surveillance are separate.
“That’s kind of the first issue that that crops up: why we lost both of those functions at the same time,” he said, but added that the aviation industry historically learns from mistakes and the problem is unlikely to repeat.
Other positives, according to Lemme, are that communication with aircraft was maintained, despite the disruption, and that no serious incidents arose. All aircraft reached destinations safely, and no collisions and injuries were reported.
“Recall that the airplanes themselves have quite a bit of technology to help them in the event that air traffic control puts them in a in a situation,” Lemme said. “They can they can tell where other aircrafts are and they can avoid those.”
Peter Lemme, a former Boeing flight controls engineer, told CTV News Channel that generally, communications, navigation and surveillance are separate.
“That’s kind of the first issue that that crops up: why we lost both of those functions at the same time,” he said, but added that the aviation industry historically learns from mistakes and the problem is unlikely to repeat.
Other positives, according to Lemme, are that communication with aircraft was maintained, despite the disruption, and that no serious incidents arose. All aircraft reached destinations safely, and no collisions and injuries were reported.
“Recall that the airplanes themselves have quite a bit of technology to help them in the event that air traffic control puts them in a in a situation,” Lemme said. “They can they can tell where other aircrafts are and they can avoid those.”
An information board displays flight statuses and cancellations, at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
‘Needs to be some further investigation’: expert
An aviation management expert says it’s “plausible” that faulty equipment was to blame for the flight disruptions.
“I think that there needs to be some further investigation,” John Gradek, aviation management expert, told CTV News Channel on Saturday.
He questioned why something as massive as air traffic control didn’t have a backup and was reliant on one router.
“That’s a poor design of a system, where you have no backups and no backup to the backup,” Gradek added. He added that as far as the incompetency goes, “it may be more on the design of the system rather than the actual mechanic who’s doing the change of that router.”
The aviation management expert went on to say Canada is “light years ahead of the U.S.” when it comes to the air traffic control system.
“The Americans are trying to catch up to us in terms of air traffic control technology,” Gradek said. “It’s nothing that’s new. They’ve just been slow in basically getting funding to do it.”
He added that it was “optimistic” to say it will fully recover by Sunday, and that he thinks it would be until around Tuesday by the time the entire disruption is sorted.
“I think that there needs to be some further investigation,” John Gradek, aviation management expert, told CTV News Channel on Saturday.
He questioned why something as massive as air traffic control didn’t have a backup and was reliant on one router.
“That’s a poor design of a system, where you have no backups and no backup to the backup,” Gradek added. He added that as far as the incompetency goes, “it may be more on the design of the system rather than the actual mechanic who’s doing the change of that router.”
The aviation management expert went on to say Canada is “light years ahead of the U.S.” when it comes to the air traffic control system.
“The Americans are trying to catch up to us in terms of air traffic control technology,” Gradek said. “It’s nothing that’s new. They’ve just been slow in basically getting funding to do it.”
He added that it was “optimistic” to say it will fully recover by Sunday, and that he thinks it would be until around Tuesday by the time the entire disruption is sorted.
A passenger waits at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Can you buy travel insurance after the fact?
People may want to buy trip cancellation and interruption going forward, after witnessing the disruption caused over this weekend, Marty Firestone, president of Travel Secure Inc. said.
“The bottom line is it has never been the flight cost that was the issue. It’s the destination you were going to, the cruise you were going to catch, the home you were renting, the concert you bought tickets for,” he told CTV News Channel Saturday.
Firestone cautioned that people who have already bought tickets and could be affected by the disruption cannot buy travel insurance after the fact.
Travel insurance will not cover expenses if the policy holder already knew about an issue, such as this situation, worsening wars, and other reasons, he added.
“Known cause, no coverage.”
“The bottom line is it has never been the flight cost that was the issue. It’s the destination you were going to, the cruise you were going to catch, the home you were renting, the concert you bought tickets for,” he told CTV News Channel Saturday.
Firestone cautioned that people who have already bought tickets and could be affected by the disruption cannot buy travel insurance after the fact.
Travel insurance will not cover expenses if the policy holder already knew about an issue, such as this situation, worsening wars, and other reasons, he added.
“Known cause, no coverage.”
A traveller sleeps at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Contractor taking situation ‘seriously’: L3Harris
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the problem began when contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc. was replacing a section of the air traffic control system’s old copper wire with new fiber wire, somehow causing the system to overload. The work led to “intermittent” communications and radar gaps, prompting the government to shut down air traffic for more than four hours.
L3Harris said it was supporting the FAA in its investigation to “understand the conditions” that led to the ground stop.
“L3Harris takes the nationwide ground stop and its impact on travellers, airlines and air traffic operations seriously,” it said in a statement.
No guarantee flights will recover fully by Sunday: expert
An aviation expert says a full ground stop was the right move by the U.S. FAA in a situation where communication systems with aircrafts were broken.
“It was not easy to determine exactly what had happened, and if you don’t understand the problem, you can’t really correct it,” Keith Mackey told CTV News Channel Saturday.
“A portion of it is being corrected and checked and verified to be sure that it’s working properly.”
According to the aviation expert, the air traffic control system currently in place is between 30 to 50 years old, which is why it’s necessary to modernize it.
When asked whether a full recovery of flights is possible by the end of Sunday as estimated by the FAA, Mackey said “it isn’t necessarily a guarantee.
“This isn’t a new occurrence. It’s just a larger one that we normally have to deal with,” he added.
“It was not easy to determine exactly what had happened, and if you don’t understand the problem, you can’t really correct it,” Keith Mackey told CTV News Channel Saturday.
“A portion of it is being corrected and checked and verified to be sure that it’s working properly.”
According to the aviation expert, the air traffic control system currently in place is between 30 to 50 years old, which is why it’s necessary to modernize it.
When asked whether a full recovery of flights is possible by the end of Sunday as estimated by the FAA, Mackey said “it isn’t necessarily a guarantee.
“This isn’t a new occurrence. It’s just a larger one that we normally have to deal with,” he added.
Following the grounding of flights by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, travellers wait at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
How problems on the ground have an impact thousands of kilometres away
Disruptions to the complex network used by air traffic control centres can take hours if not days to resolve, and can impact flights even thousands of kilometres away.
Intermittent frequency instability experienced Friday affected more than three-quarters of U.S. regional air control centres, according to an FAA administrator.
“It was a type of failure that wasn’t local because it was part of the communication system,” Bryan Bedford told reporters Saturday.
And the impact is widely spread in part because of the way aircraft schedules are designed, an aviation consultant explained in an interview with The Associated Press.
An aircraft isn’t just flown on a single “A to B” route, Andrew Charlton said. “It then moves onto C and then over to E and around and around and around.”
And that flight plan is even more complicated when long-haul and international flights are involved, he said, so the “knock-on” effect spreads to impact more flights, more airports, and more countries.
With files from The Associated Press
Aircraft are seen at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
‘We had to wait for news’
Isabelle Rochefort said she had been standing in line at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport to board her Air Canada flight to Cancun, Mexico, around 5 p.m. Friday when she received word that it was cancelled.
She said the situation was initially confusing because her plane wasn’t touching down in the United States.
“We didn’t know what to do, of course,” she said in a series of Facebook messages.
“The Air Canada staff had no information on what was next except that we had to wait for news.”
She’s since been rebooked on a new flight leaving Sunday, though she’ll have to pay for yet another expensive ride to the airport.
Closed Air Canada bag drop areas are shown at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sandra Ezekwesili
Sports teams’ travel impacted by stop
Major sporting events slowly returned to normal Saturday after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide for several hours a day earlier, disrupting travel plans for professional and college teams across the country.
Most college football teams playing Saturday travel the day before kickoff, and a number of games were delayed by hours to give visiting programs more time to arrive and prepare.
There were 14 scheduled NHL games on Saturday, and the majority made it to their destinations before the flight stoppage began. The San Jose Sharks, who were left waiting to see whether they would be able to travel, arrived late Friday in Utah.
In the NBA, most teams were, at worst, mildly affected by Friday’s events. Cleveland was the outlier. The Cavaliers started their Saturday much earlier than usual, leaving Miami at 8:54 a.m. on a plane taking them to Cleveland -- where they were set to play the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.
The NFL benefitted from its Sunday slate, as teams typically travel the day before their games.
‘It’s crazy’: Traveller
Traveller Edward Langer, who is in New York with his 15-year-old daughter, said his Saturday flight back home to Edmonton was postponed by about four days due to the freeze.
He said he and his daughter are facing several missed days of school and work, as well as thousands of dollars in extra hotel costs.
He had not been able to reach Porter Airlines as of Saturday afternoon despite spending hours on hold.
“When you go on some of the travel sites to book hotels, (the price) is just doubling and tripling,” he said.
“It’s crazy.”
Canadian travellers miss start of cruise
Nancy Jackson and Janet Bell are not happy after their flight to Los Angeles was cancelled, resulting in them missing their cruise.
“We’re very unhappy. We understand that things happened in the States yesterday with the airspace, but we are booked to go on a cruise today, leaving L.A. at 3 p.m., but of course we’re not going to make it,” Jackson told CP24 during an interview at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
She said Air Canada cancelled their 8 a.m. flight and rebooked them with American Airlines, which was eventually also cancelled.
They have now booked a flight to Los Cabos via Dallas to catch up with the cruise.
“We’re just out hundreds, if not a couple of thousands extra, to try and get five days on a seven-day cruise,” Bell said.
Both have expressed their frustration with the customer service they’ve received from the airlines.
“It’s a nightmare,” Bell said.
“Do better. When something like this happens, have more customer service representatives available so the wait times on hold are not that long.”
Nancy Jackson and Janet Bell say their flights to the U.S. were cancelled today as airlines continue to grapple with the impact of the ground stop order. CP24
Airports, airlines issue travel notices
Some Canadian airports and airlines spent Saturday issuing travel notices and catching up on a backlog left behind by a freeze on U.S. air traffic.
One of Canada’s largest airports, Toronto Pearson International Airport, said it called in more staff to help out with the day.
“A busy day of travel is underway at Toronto Pearson,” it said in a social media post early Saturday.
Calgary-based WestJet said in a separate post that it was responding to a significant travel disruption, while Porter Airlines said it would likely take the whole weekend for its flights to return to normal schedules.
A Porter Airlines spokesperson said in an email that it would refund its customers who can’t accommodate rescheduled flights.
Airports in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Halifax issued travel notices and asked travellers to double-check their flight statuses before leaving their homes.
N.L. local airport was ready to receive diverted passengers
Reg White, chief executive of the airport authority in Gander, N.L., said he called the local hotels for vacancy numbers and made sure the restaurant could stay open if planes were diverted to the town.
White said there was some relief when the so-called ground stop was lifted Friday night without any diversions to Gander.
The people of Gander famously cared for thousands of passengers stranded in the town when planes were grounded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S.
White said he didn’t brace for an onslaught of planes on Friday because there were no flights between Gander and the United States, nor was it a peak time for flights between the U.S. and Europe.
The systems were ‘overwhelmed’
In the Q&A following the press meet, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy told reporters that the FAA had deployed their smart system to better navigate weather and trajectories for flights. But the system that was to blame for the disruptions was not connected to it.
“Smart had zero impact on the occurrences yesterday,” he said.
U.S. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters that “nothing went down.”
“What we saw was instability. We couldn’t explain the instability. We saw the instability start to propagate into facilities we couldn’t identify,” he said. “That’s when we made the decision to ground stop out of our abundance. No facilities went dark. Nothing was fully boxed.”
Bedford added that the pressure “overwhelmed one set of routers in an in-facility, which then went through the backups at other facilities, and it propagated from there.”
“Smart had zero impact on the occurrences yesterday,” he said.
U.S. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters that “nothing went down.”
“What we saw was instability. We couldn’t explain the instability. We saw the instability start to propagate into facilities we couldn’t identify,” he said. “That’s when we made the decision to ground stop out of our abundance. No facilities went dark. Nothing was fully boxed.”
Bedford added that the pressure “overwhelmed one set of routers in an in-facility, which then went through the backups at other facilities, and it propagated from there.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, right, with U.S. Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford, left, and Rebecca Gay, FAA Acting Chief Technology Officer, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
‘Zero evidence’ of nefarious or AI-related issues
In the same press conference, U.S. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters that the system had started displaying “instability” which they were unable to access, at which point they implemented the ground stop.
“We did that because we felt it was helpful to remove pressure from the system… holding airplanes on the ground while we continue to work through the root cause analysis of the instability in the system, and ultimately to relieve stress and complexity in the airspace,” he said.
Bedford added that at the time of the ground stop, nearly 30,000 flights were either on the ground or in air, and 20,000 remained. The FAA was ultimately able to recover only around 8,000 of those flights.
Based on word from airline partners, they believe they will be back to “full schedule integrity” by Sunday, he said.
“I do think the worst is behind us, but we still do have a significant amount of recovery work to do with our airline stakeholder group,” the FAA administrator said, adding that they have identified the fault and had “zero evidence” of any nefarious or AI-related activities.
“We did that because we felt it was helpful to remove pressure from the system… holding airplanes on the ground while we continue to work through the root cause analysis of the instability in the system, and ultimately to relieve stress and complexity in the airspace,” he said.
Bedford added that at the time of the ground stop, nearly 30,000 flights were either on the ground or in air, and 20,000 remained. The FAA was ultimately able to recover only around 8,000 of those flights.
Based on word from airline partners, they believe they will be back to “full schedule integrity” by Sunday, he said.
“I do think the worst is behind us, but we still do have a significant amount of recovery work to do with our airline stakeholder group,” the FAA administrator said, adding that they have identified the fault and had “zero evidence” of any nefarious or AI-related activities.
U.S. Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford, left, with U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
A few days to destination: Expert
Speaking to CP24, aviation management expert John Gradek said the disruption would take several days to unwind and reach back to normal.
While some flights might resume normal operations today, passengers whose trips were cancelled could wait until Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday for available seats, he said.
He estimated around a million passengers were affected and explained that airlines must use “optimization and re-optimization” to get the right crews and aircraft to the right places in the right order.
“It does require a lot of calculations and a lot of mathematics to make sure that you get the right crews on the right airplanes at the right time at the right place,” he said.
While some flights might resume normal operations today, passengers whose trips were cancelled could wait until Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday for available seats, he said.
He estimated around a million passengers were affected and explained that airlines must use “optimization and re-optimization” to get the right crews and aircraft to the right places in the right order.
“It does require a lot of calculations and a lot of mathematics to make sure that you get the right crews on the right airplanes at the right time at the right place,” he said.
Not a cyberattack: Duffy
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy told reporters that they don’t believe it was a cyberattack from any foreign nation or otherwise.
“Once we were able to isolate the work that was being done at this remote location, all of our systems came back online,” he said. “So, we don’t believe this was cyber at all, this was an FAA system that didn’t meet the moment.
“Our contractor didn’t meet the moment, or the equipment didn’t meet the moment and caused the outages,” Duffy added.
The U.S. FAA is working toward “modernizing air traffic control,” the U.S. transportation secretary said, adding that the resources provided are not enough.
“Once we were able to isolate the work that was being done at this remote location, all of our systems came back online,” he said. “So, we don’t believe this was cyber at all, this was an FAA system that didn’t meet the moment.
“Our contractor didn’t meet the moment, or the equipment didn’t meet the moment and caused the outages,” Duffy added.
The U.S. FAA is working toward “modernizing air traffic control,” the U.S. transportation secretary said, adding that the resources provided are not enough.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, right, with U.S. Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford, left, arrives for a news conference at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Work to replace old copper wiring to blame?
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy told reporters Saturday that there was an issue with an old copper wire in “an incredibly old telecommunication system,” which was being replaced, that caused the disruption in the flight radar feeds.
“In at least one of our remote FAA locations, a contractor was doing routine maintenance to switch telecommunication lines from old copper wire, and they were bringing it over to fiber,” Duffy said.
“The work happening was due to the age of the copper wire that we were replacing. It was such an old wire that it was being discontinued, meaning that line was going to get shut down,” he continued.
The U.S. transportation secretary added that the U.S. FAA may have been the last one to be making this switch from copper to fibre due to lack of investments.
“What we’re working to determine was whether we had incompetence: meaning was it user error or installation error from L3 Harris (the contractor), or did they install a faulty router? We haven’t determined what the fault was,” Duffy said.
“Either through contractor error or a faulty piece of equipment, the router that was being replaced as we switched from copper to fiber… it started flooding other routers in our air traffic control system.”
“In at least one of our remote FAA locations, a contractor was doing routine maintenance to switch telecommunication lines from old copper wire, and they were bringing it over to fiber,” Duffy said.
“The work happening was due to the age of the copper wire that we were replacing. It was such an old wire that it was being discontinued, meaning that line was going to get shut down,” he continued.
The U.S. transportation secretary added that the U.S. FAA may have been the last one to be making this switch from copper to fibre due to lack of investments.
“What we’re working to determine was whether we had incompetence: meaning was it user error or installation error from L3 Harris (the contractor), or did they install a faulty router? We haven’t determined what the fault was,” Duffy said.
“Either through contractor error or a faulty piece of equipment, the router that was being replaced as we switched from copper to fiber… it started flooding other routers in our air traffic control system.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, right, with Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford, left, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
40 flights cancelled at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport
The Montreal-Trudeau International Airport said 40 flights were cancelled Saturday as operations resumed after a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ground stop temporarily suspended flights on Friday.
Airport authorities said airlines resumed flights to the U.S. after the FAA lifted the temporary suspension of flights after 9 p.m.
“Aircraft that were unable to land in Montreal yesterday cannot depart today, which explains these cancellations,” a Montreal airport spokesperson told CTV News Saturday.
“We encourage travelers to check the status of their flight with their airline before heading to the airport.”
On Friday, 61 flights were cancelled, including 32 arrivals and 29 departures, as a result of the ground stop.
Robin Della Corte, CTVNewsMontreal.ca
Robin Della Corte, CTVNewsMontreal.ca
‘Additional cancellations’ Saturday, Air Canada says
Air Canada cancelled around 250 flights on Friday, affecting approximately 27,000 passengers, an airline spokesperson says.
In a statement on Saturday morning to CTV News, Yasmine Medhi said there have been “additional cancellations” and that it will take time to return to “normal operations.”
“To help alleviate the situation, we have added extra flights where possible to increase capacity and accommodate affected passengers,” the statement reads.
In a statement on Saturday morning to CTV News, Yasmine Medhi said there have been “additional cancellations” and that it will take time to return to “normal operations.”
“To help alleviate the situation, we have added extra flights where possible to increase capacity and accommodate affected passengers,” the statement reads.
Closed Air Canada bag drop areas are shown at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sandra Ezekwesili
Operations ‘slowly’ returning: Duffy
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says flight operations are “slowly returning to normal” as of Saturday morning.
In an X post, he added that there will still be some delays and cancellations as carriers “reschedule flights and reposition” aircraft and crews.
“Our top priority right now is making sure travelers get home safely to their families as quickly as possible,” the post reads.
He added that officials will share more updates at 10:30 am ET this morning.
Airlines not required to offer additional compensation
An FAA computer problem is considered outside the control of the airlines — much like the weather.
The only thing the airlines are obligated to do is to offer free rebooking on another flight for travellers that want to continue to their destinations or a refund if their flight was canceled and they decide not to take the trip.
Travellers wait at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, after the FAA grounded flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
‘Thank you, Canada’: Gov. Newsom
California Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked Canada for its support during the FAA’s ground stop of U.S. flights.
“Neighbours help neighbours,” he wrote on X Friday.
“That’s what friendship and leadership look like.”
Newsom was responding to Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon’s X post where he promised Canada’s ongoing assistance to the FAA.
“Washington may have temporarily forgotten this, but the American people never will,” added to his post.
“We are grateful.”
“Neighbours help neighbours,” he wrote on X Friday.
“That’s what friendship and leadership look like.”
Newsom was responding to Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon’s X post where he promised Canada’s ongoing assistance to the FAA.
“Washington may have temporarily forgotten this, but the American people never will,” added to his post.
“We are grateful.”
FAA lifts U.S. ground stop
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says airplane departures can resume after the agency lifted a nationwide ground stop caused by communications problems.
The FAA had grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon, causing hundreds of flights to be diverted. Officials cited “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communications problems at regional air traffic control centres.
Travellers wait for their luggage at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/William Liang)
‘Some delays’ still possible in Calgary
Calgary Airports says some disruptions are still possible as operations return to normal after it halted all flights bound for the United States on Friday afternoon.
In a statement to CTV News at 8 p.m. MT, Calgary Airports said all flights on Friday bound for “the lower 48 states” were cancelled and some delays were “still possible across other routes.”
“It’s recommended that all travellers check flight status with their airline before coming as schedules begin to normalize,” the statement said.
Cassidy McMackon and Damien Wood, CTVNewsCalgary.ca
Pearson will be in ‘recovery mode’ Saturday: spokesperson
It is going to take some time for airport operations to resume as normal, Pearson spokesperson Erica Vella says.
She notes that it is still unclear if U.S. flights are going to resume this evening as the situation remains fluid.
“But we are working very, very closely with our airlines, and we will be moving into a bit of a recovery mode today and tomorrow to make sure that airlines can get their schedules back on schedule and make sure that passengers can get to their destinations,” Vella told CTV News Toronto.
She added that the airport’s emergency operations centres will remain activated while the airport moves into recovery mode.
Erica Vella speaks with CTV News Toronto about the operations at Toronto Pearson International Airport after the U.S. ground stop order was lifted. CTV News
Mexican singer stranded after Latin Grammys
Singer-songwriter Vivir Quintana was stuck in Las Vegas the day after performing at the Latin Grammys, upending plans to return to Mexico City for a performance Friday evening.
She was supposed to join Majo Aguilar as a guest artist for their performance at the country’s national auditorium.
“We’re waiting for our suitcases — hopefully this can get resolved — but right now, all we can really do is breathe and be patient,” she said. “She’s performing there for the first time tonight — her very first time at the auditorium. My family will be there, so I’m sad about that.”
Flight disruptions to continue: Pearson
Toronto Pearson International Airport says U.S. flights will continue “to experience disruptions and cancellations as airlines work to restore normal flight schedules,” despite the ground stop order being lifted.
The airport is advising passengers to keep checking the status of their flight directly with their airline before travelling to the airport.
No guarantee scenario won’t repeat itself: Duffy
“Is this exact thing going to happen again?” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters. “I don't—I don’t know that this exact scenario will happen.”
Duffy also repeatedly called on Congress to authorize billions of dollars in spending to modernize federal aviation safety.
“And so I would say, America, Congress, let’s make this system more safe,” Duffy said.
Delays may continue: NAV Canada
NAV Canada says it will continue working to keep air traffic moving in Canadian airspace after the FAA lifted the ground stop order.
“Some delays may continue while operations return to normal and backlogs are cleared,” NAV Canada said in a post on social media.
It reiterated that passengers should check their flight status with their airline.
Getting planes back in air will take time: official
At the time of the ground stoppage, there were 3,500 airplanes in the sky.
“And last time I looked, we had less than, 400 in the airspace,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“It’s going to be slow” getting air traffic back to normal, he added.
Ground stop strands Toronto couple
Toronto-area couple Lyle Jakobsen and his wife were supposed to fly back from Sint Maarten this afternoon when their Air Canada flight got cancelled.
“We boarded. Everything was fine. In probably 10 minutes after boarding, we got a notification that we would be delayed. There was the FAA issue, so we sat on the tarmac for, I would say, probably the better part of an hour and 15 minutes,” Jakobsen told CP24 on Friday night.
“The pilot kept us up to date while we were on the tarmac.”
Passengers were then deboarded, and Jakobsen said he was able to find a hotel where they could stay.
Air Canada has said that flights from the Caribbean and South America that have to pass through U.S. airspace would be impacted by the ground stop.
“Air Canada has been very communicative with us, and we’re happy with that for sure. So, what one more night in Saint Martin is probably not the worst scenario,” Jakobsen said, adding that he hopes that they get to fly back to Toronto tomorrow.
Lyle Jakobsen speaks with CP24 after being stranded in Sint Maarten due to the FAA ground stop order. CP24
College football teams prioritized ahead of games
The ground stoppage left dozens of U.S. college football and other sports teams stranded or unable to depart for their weekend games.
“I would encourage those football teams to reach out to the FAA, to schedule their flight times and make sure they can move” to make their kickoff, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
Barbados flight ‘indefinitely cancelled’: traveller
A traveller who was set to fly out of Barbados to Toronto said she got the news her flight was cancelled when her plane was on the runway ready for take off.
Dominique Franklin spoke to CTV News Channel on Friday, sharing how she is stuck in Barbados as a result of the FAA grounding flights in U.S. airspace.
The flight crew said they were unable to access radar and radio to safely fly the plane, Franklin reported.
“I went straight to the WestJet desk,” she said, after she and her co-passengers left the plane.
“The only update that they were able to give us is to really just keep checking your email and we hope to be out to Toronto tomorrow morning.”
Franklin says she will sleep in half-hour increments tonight so she can check her email.
No evidence of cyberattack: DHS
“There was never any lives at risk,” U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. “There was no flights at risk. FAA was able to handle it. We did it out of an abundance of caution.”
Mullin sought to downplay conspiracy theories about what caused the outage.
“I do understand the internet traffic, and where all these conspiracies are running towards,” he said.
Ottawa updates U.S. travel advisory
The federal government updated the safety and security section for the United States on its travel advisory website Friday.
It states that the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports, and that travellers can “expect air travel disruptions.”
It advises travellers to contract their airline for more information on how the grounding will impact travel plans.
Passengers should check with airlines
Erica Vella, a spokesperson with the Toronto Pearson International Airport, says the situation is “very fluid.” She reiterated what airport officials have been saying all night: that passengers should check directly with their airlines about their flight status.
“At this point, we know that flights from Toronto Pearson to the U.S. are being impacted right now. There’s over 100 U.S. flights that have been cancelled at this point,” Vella told CP24.
“We are telling passengers to make sure that they are checking their flight status and to not come to the airport if they do not have a confirmed booking.”
She noted that 20 other international flights have also been cancelled as a result of the ground stop order.
“We’re monitoring developments as well from the FAA, so we’re able to adapt and be able to address issues should they arise.”
Toronto Pearson International Airport spokesperson Erica Vella speaks with CP24 about the latest on the U.S. ground stop order that has impacted hundreds of American flights. CP24
Flights bound for Hawaii and Asia depart San Francisco
San Francisco airport said that flights headed across the Pacific Ocean were cleared to leave the airport starting around 5 p.m. Eastern. That includes flights destined for Hawaii and Asia.
Mullin had said earlier that international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
U.S. users report Amtrak outages amid high traffic
Amtrak, the U.S. national railroad corporation, says it is currently experiencing “higher-than-normal call volumes due to ongoing airline issues.”
Passengers took to X to report problems booking tickets on the corporation’s website and app. According to Downdetector.com, reports of Amtrack outages skyrocketed around 7:00 p.m. ET, approximately three hours after the FAA halted U.S. flights.
FAA issues 'ground stop' for all flights across U.S. due to safety issue
All flights in the United States are grounded due to "extraordinary circumstances," the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Friday.
The FAA issued the ground stop after a "communication issue" impacting all U.S. Air Route Traffic Control Centers," U.S. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said in a social media post.
Hundreds of U.S. flights cancelled at Toronto’s two airports
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled at Toronto’s two airports after the FAA issued a ground stop order on Friday, leaving many passengers scrambling.
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates Toronto Pearson International Airport, said in a statement that there were no scheduled U.S.-bound departures or arrivals at this time
“Passengers are advised to check directly with their airline for the latest flight information before heading to the airport.”
The GTAA noted that international and domestic flights that do not require transit through the U.S. airspace will continue to operate.
Meanwhile, Toronto Billy Bishop Airport said that Air Canada and Porter Airlines have cancelled all remaining Friday U.S.-inbound and outbound flights.
Minnesota flight cancelled: Regina airport
The Regina International Airport says it is monitoring local impacts as the United States grounds all departing flights nationwide.
On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for YQR told CTV News a Minneapolis-St. Paul flight scheduled to arrive in Regina on Friday night has been cancelled.
The spokesperson said the airport will be monitoring for additional impacts on other flights from the U.S., depending on how long the issue lasts.
Canada to provide ‘full assistance’ to FAA: Minister
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon says Canada will support the U.S. aviation authority.
“Canada has offered its full assistance to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as it manages the situation, including accommodation of U.S.-bound aircraft as required,” MacKinnon wrote on X.
He added that he remains ready to support U.S. aviation authorities moving forward.
Pearson Airport provides update on non-U.S. flights
Toronto Pearson Airport says international and domestic flights that do not require transit through the U.S. airspace will continue to operate.
“We are increasing staffing across the airport to assist affected passengers. Our support teams are being deployed throughout the terminals, with additional resources available in the U.S. departures area,” Pearson said in a post on social media.
“We are also working closely with airlines and have implemented a parking plan for aircraft.”
More than 100 flights to and from the U.S. have already been cancelled at Pearson tonight.
Communication issues don’t appear linked to new FAA system
The communications problems that led to the nationwide halt to flights don’t appear to be linked to the FAA’s new AI-powered system the agency is rolling out to help predict problems in the sky.
The FAA’s SMART system is based in a single location near Washington, D.C., where a team of experts analyzes flight schedules, weather forecasts and hundreds of other streams of data.
Then that office sends recommendations to the FAA’s command centre that relays them to controllers across the country for consideration.
The company that designed the system, ASI, said “the current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC.”
Travellers wait in line at ticket counters at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
U.S. ground stop throws sports world into chaos
The FAA's decision to ground all flights nationwide Friday threw the sports world into chaos, leaving NBA and NHL teams stranded as they tried to reach their destinations, and NFL teams were left to wonder whether the issue would be resolved in time for them to travel to their games this weekend.
The Nets were among five NBA teams scheduled to fly Friday for games on Saturday. They had just boarded the team plane in New Orleans after playing the Pelicans earlier this week when their flight to Memphis was halted in place.
The Pistons flew earlier in the day to Miami. The Cavaliers, Bulls and Grizzlies play Friday night and were due to fly afterward.
There are 14 scheduled games in the NHL on Saturday. And while the Panthers made it to St. Louis for their game before the stoppage began, the Sharks were among those that were left waiting to leave for their game in Utah.
The FAA did not provide a timeline for restarting flights, leaving sporting events taking place beyond Saturday in limbo. That includes most of the Week 10 schedule in the NFL.
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