A nationwide air traffic communications failure forces the Spartans to postpone their flight to Colorado, disrupts other sports teams and leaves thousands of passengers facing delays.
A nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop disrupted travel across the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday, November 13, 2026, leaving the San Jose State football team stranded before its flight to Colorado. The emergency order halted most departures at airports across the country for more than four hours. Although the FAA lifted the restrictions Friday evening, thousands of passengers and several sports teams faced continuing delays.
The shutdown followed a telecommunications failure affecting air traffic control facilities nationwide. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said aging communications equipment had become overwhelmed, creating unreliable information for controllers. Federal officials ordered the grounding as a safety precaution while technicians worked to restore normal operations.
San Jose State Football Team Stranded at Airport
San Jose State’s football team was preparing to travel to Colorado Springs for Saturday’s game against Air Force when the shutdown interrupted its departure. The Spartans had boarded their charter aircraft at San José Mineta International Airport and were approaching takeoff when the flight stopped.
More than 100 players, coaches and university officials were aboard the aircraft. The team remained on the ground for approximately two hours before returning to the gate and eventually heading back to campus.
Sky Kerstein, San Jose State’s associate athletics director for communications and broadcasting, described the unexpected interruption to the San Francisco Chronicle. He said the aircraft had reached the taxiway and was second in line for departure when the pilot reported computer problems.
Kerstein initially thought the interruption would be brief, but communications between pilots and air traffic controllers suggested otherwise. When the aircraft’s engines were shut down and other pilots requested permission to return to their gates, the situation became clearer.
The team eventually boarded four buses for the short trip back to its football facility. Instead of arriving in Colorado on Friday, the Spartans planned to attempt the journey Saturday morning.
The game against Air Force was scheduled for 4 p.m. Pacific time Saturday at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs. The revised travel arrangements left the team with considerably less preparation time before kickoff.
Kerstein indicated that the players and coaches remained relatively calm despite the unexpected disruption. The Spartans continued their usual Friday preparations after returning to campus, including meetings ahead of the game.
Other Bay Area Teams Adjust Travel Plans
The nationwide grounding also affected other sports organizations preparing for a busy weekend. Some teams were fortunate enough to complete their travel before the FAA restrictions began.
California and Stanford had already departed Thursday for their college football games on the East Coast. Their early travel schedules allowed both programs to avoid the immediate disruption.
California’s women’s basketball team, however, faced a change in plans. The program switched from a scheduled flight to a bus trip for its journey to Santa Barbara.
The Golden State Warriors also avoided a significant immediate travel problem. Stephen Curry returned to the Bay Area from San Antonio shortly before the grounding, while other available players were scheduled to travel to New Orleans on Saturday.
The San Francisco 49ers were preparing to fly to Dallas on Saturday for their upcoming game against the Cowboys. Their planned departure came after the FAA reopened the nation’s airspace, although airlines were still working to restore normal schedules.
The San Jose Sharks were among the NHL teams affected by the restrictions. They had been preparing to travel to Utah ahead of Saturday’s game when the shutdown left them waiting for departure information.
Across the country, other professional and college teams encountered similar problems. The interruption forced athletic departments and leagues to reconsider travel schedules, accommodations and, in some cases, game times.
Bay Area Airports Report Widespread Disruptions
The ground stop began shortly before 1 p.m. Pacific time, affecting departures from San Francisco International Airport, Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport and San José Mineta International Airport.
Aircraft already airborne were generally allowed to continue to their destinations. However, departing flights remained restricted, with some exceptions for international and Pacific-bound travel.
San Francisco International Airport announced that flights bound for Hawaii and Asia could resume departing around 3 p.m. Pacific time. Other passengers continued waiting as airlines received updated instructions.
At Oakland, at least 11 flights had been canceled by 4 p.m., according to ABC7 News. San José also reported numerous cancellations, with some passengers remaining aboard aircraft for hours before returning to terminal buildings.
Travelers faced changing flight information, long customer service lines and uncertainty about overnight accommodations. Some passengers booked hotels, while others remained at airports hoping their flights would eventually depart.
The FAA lifted the nationwide ground stop at approximately 5:15 p.m. Pacific time. San Francisco International Airport confirmed that the restrictions had ended in an update issued at 5:36 p.m.
Oakland airport officials announced that operations were resuming but warned that cancellations and delays could continue. Airlines still needed to reposition aircraft and crews before returning to their regular schedules.
FAA Blames Problems on Aging Communications Systems
During a Friday evening briefing, Duffy explained that problems involving radar information and communications developed across air traffic control facilities. The trouble began around 3:36 p.m. Eastern time, according to his account.
Controllers rely on these systems to track aircraft and coordinate safe movements through the nation’s airspace. When the information became inconsistent, officials decided to suspend departures rather than continue operations without dependable communications.
Duffy attributed the failure to older network equipment that struggled with heavy data demands. He said routers and switches became overloaded, interfering with information shared between air traffic control facilities.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said investigators had found no evidence that the disruption resulted from a cyberattack. Federal agencies were continuing to examine the failure, but officials believed the immediate problem involved equipment rather than a deliberate attack.
Mullin also reassured travelers that officials had taken precautions to protect aircraft and passengers. The government coordinated with aviation authorities and other federal agencies throughout the emergency.
The disruption intensified demands for improvements to the nation’s aging air traffic control infrastructure. Duffy called for additional congressional funding to replace outdated systems and improve the reliability of essential aviation equipment.
Thousands of Flights Canceled Across the Country
The shutdown affected far more than Bay Area travelers. FlightAware reported nearly 5,000 cancellations nationwide on Friday, with hundreds of additional cancellations already recorded for Saturday.
Major airlines responded by canceling departures and adjusting their schedules. JetBlue announced that it was canceling most of its remaining Friday flights, with exceptions for certain Europe-bound services.
United Airlines also canceled many remaining departures, while Air Canada suspended additional flights between Canada and the United States. The widespread restrictions created scheduling problems extending beyond the period of the actual ground stop.
Some flights were diverted, leaving passengers in cities they had never planned to visit. Others were stranded at connecting airports without clear information about when their journeys could continue.
The disruption was the first nationwide FAA ground stop since January 11, 2023. That earlier event followed a malfunction in the Notice to Air Missions system, which supplies important safety information to pilots.
Before 2023, the previous nationwide grounding occurred following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Both earlier events demonstrated the serious circumstances under which federal officials have suspended departures nationwide.
Airlines Face Difficult Recovery
Lifting the ground stop did not immediately restore the nation’s aviation network. Aircraft were scattered across different airports, while flight crews faced scheduling limits and changing assignments.
Airlines needed to determine which flights could still operate and which passengers would require alternative arrangements. These decisions affected travelers whose flights were scheduled long after the original communications failure.
For Bay Area passengers, airport officials continued advising travelers to check directly with their airlines before departing for the airport. Flight schedules remained subject to changes as the recovery continued.
San Jose State faced a particularly immediate challenge because its delayed journey was tied to a scheduled college football game. The team planned to depart Saturday morning, hoping to reach Colorado Springs in time for its afternoon matchup against Air Force.
The FAA’s communications systems were restored Friday evening, but the effects of the shutdown were expected to continue into the weekend. For passengers and sports organizations alike, the next challenge was completing journeys interrupted by one of the rarest disruptions in American aviation.
IMAGE: Source https://www.flickr.com/photos/af_academy/48838885052 Author U.S. Air Force photo/Joshua Armstrong CC0