UPDATE AT 8:44 p.m. — The ground stop was just lifted. JetBlue, however, has cancelled all flights nationwide for the rest of the night. Expect other airlines to do the same. Plan on major delays and cancellations Saturday as airplanes reposition, flight crews rebase, and air traffic control deals with extreme congestion.
UPDATE AT 5:25 p.m. — DO NOT BELIEVE THE FLIGHT BOARDS, whether in person or online, for FLL, MIA, and DJT/PBI. Flights are not leaving any commercial airport in the United States until further notice. Expect the ground stop and recovery to be hours or days, not minutes. A quick check of flight boards at South Florida’s airports suggests that flights will be leaving soon. This is untrue. Flight boards are managed by local airports which have not updated with ground stop information. To be blunt: You do not want to head to an airport unless you enjoy sleeping on chairs or the floor.
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A nationwide ground stop ordered by the FAA is affecting all South Florida airports Friday afternoon. Here is the official order:
“DUE TO EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES AND FOR REASONS OF SAFETY.
ATTENTION ALL AIRCRAFT OPERATORS, BY ORDER OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION COMMAND CENTER ALL AIRPORTS ARE GROUND STOPPED. ALL DEPARTING TRAFFIC SHOULD REMAIN GROUND STOPPED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. INBOUND INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS WILL BE MANAGED ON A CASE BY CASE.”
All flights scheduled to leave MIA, FLL, and PBI/DJT are grounded until further notice. All flights in the air are being directed to specific airports.
The FAA says this is result of a major communications issue affecting the national air traffic control system and comes just a day after a major Microsoft outage nationwide.
The FAA claims that software was being updated today. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen late Friday afternoon said it does not appear to be a cyber-attack by nothing is being ruled out. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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