FAA Halts U.S. Departures Nationwide, Raising Risk for Airline Stocks

The FAA ordered a nationwide halt to U.S. flight departures after an air traffic control communications failure, raising concerns about airline stocks. The order came around 3:54 p.m. Eastern on Friday, November 13, six minutes before Wall Street closed, according to BeInCrypto. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said communications problems were affecting regional air traffic control centers; the FAA had halted traffic in Chicago shortly before the nationwide order. Aircraft already airborne could continue to land, while international arrivals would be handled individually. Technicians were investigating, with no cause or restart time announced. A Microsoft 365 outage affecting Outlook and Teams since Thursday continued Friday, but no connection to the FAA failure was confirmed. Before the grounding, United Airlines fell 6.0%, American Airlines dropped 5.6% and Delta Air Lines lost 5.2% on Thursday. The Nasdaq fell 0.9% and the S&P 500 declined 0.4% on Friday. The late FAA announcement left little time for a meaningful regular-session market reaction. Extended cancellations could increase airline costs and disrupt schedules, with Monday’s market reopening potentially providing an initial test if the communications problems persist through the weekend.