The FAA said the ground stop is related to air traffic control communications issues.
Travellers are seen at the international arrivals area at the Toronto Pearson Airport in Toronto, Canada, January 26, 2020. (Photo by Cole BURSTON / AFP)
Canada’s major airports have been affected by the grounding of all American flights after the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a nationwide stop on all departing flights.
The international airports in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal said on the afternoon of Nov. 11 that all flights to and from the United States have been temporarily suspended. This followed the U.S. FAA ordering all planes to stay grounded “due to extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety.”
The FAA said the ground stop is related to air traffic control communications issues.
The alert, which the FAA issued at 3:54 p.m. ET, applied to all aircraft operations at all airports until further notice. About 3,100 aircraft bound for U.S. airports were in the air when the nationwide ground stop was ordered, according to the live air traffic radar service Flight Radar 24.
Vancouver airport said it was aware of the nationwide technological issue affecting the United States that forced the grounding of planes, which meant the airport was experiencing delays for U.S.-bound departures and some international flights over North America.
The airport added that the technology issues had not affected Canadian flights, urged travellers to check their flight status before coming to the airport, and said it would provide updates.
Toronto-Pearson said it currently had no scheduled U.S.-bound departures or arrivals, but urged passengers to check with their airline for the latest information before travelling to the airport, and would provide further updates.
Montreal and Calgary airports echoed Vancouver and Toronto airports’ comments, with Montreal airport adding that passengers should expect flight delays and cancellations.
Montreal airport said it would have restrictions from 6 to 8 p.m. EST because of “reduced system capacity,” according to a Nav Canada notice to airmen.
Meanwhile, the Regina International Airport indicated on its website that a Minneapolis-St. Paul flight scheduled to arrive in Regina on Friday night had been cancelled.
This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a computer system malfunctioned. The last time before that was Sept. 11, 2001.
Canada’s Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon wrote online that the federal government was aware of the nationwide ground stop in the United States that affected many airports and was monitoring the situation in partnership with Nav Canada.
“While Canadian systems are operating normally, travel to the United States may be disrupted as a result of the ground stops,” he said. “We will continue to monitor developments as the situation evolves and remain in contact with the relevant authorities.”
MacKinnon later said that Canada had offered its full assistance to the FAA as it worked to manage the situation, including accommodating U.S.-bound aircraft as required.
“We remain ready to provide support to our American colleagues as the situation evolves,” he added.
Toronto-Pearson released an update saying international and domestic flights continued to operate out of the airport where routes did not require transit through American airspace. It also said that it was increasing its staffing to assist affected passengers and deploying support teams throughout the terminals, with extra support in the U.S. departure zones.
“We are also working closely with airlines and have implemented a parking plan for aircraft. We will continue to provide updates as relevant new information becomes available,” the airport added.
Meanwhile, Microsoft said in an online post that it had no indication the FAA nationwide ground stop was related to any of its services, which experienced disruption on Nov. 12 and took Outlook and other services offline.