THE US GROUNDED ALL OUTBOUND FLIGHTS NATIONWIDE.
THE SECOND TIME SINCE 9/11 đ¨âď¸
Yes, you read that right.
All US aviation grounded.
Itâs not an airport. Itâs not an airline.
Itâs the ENTIRE country.
WHAT HAPPENED -
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13
The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) ordered a nationwide suspension of all outbound flights due to âextraordinary circumstances and security reasons.â
The statement was direct:
âAll outbound air traffic must remain grounded until further noticeâ
What does that mean in plain English?
If youâre in the air, you can land.
Theyâll let you land. If youâre on the ground, you do NOT take off.
Not a single one.
Arriving international flights: handled on a case-by-case basis.
Before extending it nationwide, the FAA had already halted everything in Chicago because of air traffic control communication failures.
Then they realized it wasnât just Chicago. It was everywhere.
WHAT CAUSED IT?
It wasnât the weather. It wasnât an airline.
It was a serious communications failure at the en route air traffic control centersâthe ones that manage planes flying above 5,400 meters.
There are 22 of these centers in the US, in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and elsewhere.
And the problem affected EVERYONE.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that FAA technicians are investigating the cause.
And Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin came out to clarify what everyone was thinking:
âThere is no indication that this was a malicious attack against us. For now, this is just a telecommunications outage.â
âThis is not another 9/11.
This is a telecommunications outage.â
But he also admitted: âIt wonât be resolved in an hour.â
THE IMPACT IS MASSIVE
To put it into perspective: By 7:30 p.m. ET, more than 5,000 flights had already been canceled in the US, according to FlightAware.
According to Flighty, more than 30,000 flights were scheduled for the rest of the day when the ground stop began.
The suspension has already lasted more than 4 hours, longer than the one in 2023. The FAA asked Eurocontrol to suspend departures to the US from 42 European countries, including Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and Turkey.
In other words, itâs not just the US.
Itâs the whole world that canât fly to the US.
And here in Latin America, weâre already feeling it: Mexico City International Airport has reported disruptions to flights to and from the US.
WHY ARE THEY SAYING âTHE SECOND TIME SINCE 9/11â?
Because they mean it literally. This is the second time the FAA has halted all takeoffs nationwide since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
On 9/11, all civil aviation was halted, and planes already in the air had to land wherever they could.
The only similar incident since then was in January 2023, when the FAA suspended domestic takeoffs for less than 2 hours because of a failure in the Notice to Air Missions system (NOTAM), which alerts pilots to risks.
Todayâs suspension has already lasted more than 4 hours.
Itâs longer, more serious, and affects every air traffic control centerânot just a notification system.
And hereâs the uncomfortable fact: last year, Congress approved $12.5 billion to modernize the FAAâs obsolete communications system. In other words, they already knew the system was outdated.
And it still collapsed.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE MARKETS AND CRYPTO?
Let me put it in our language:
Airlines in the red: American, United, Delta, and Southwest will open down on Monday. Every hour on the ground means millions in losses, refunds, hotels, and stranded crews.
Systemic risk: If a system as critical as US air traffic control goes down because of âtelecommunications,â what else could go down? The market hates infrastructure uncertainty.
Crypto wonât crash, but... Bitcoin doesnât depend on the FAA. But when thereâs panic and headlines saying âthe second time since 9/11,â people sell risk first and ask questions later. Weekend volatility is guaranteed.
Monday will be crucial: If this is resolved Friday night, itâll be a passing story. If it continues into Saturday, weâre talking about thousands of cancellations over the weekend and a chaotic Monday.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAVE A FLIGHT?
Donât head to the airport blind.
Check your airlineâs app. You wonât be allowed to take off until the FAA lifts the ground stop. Keep all your receipts. This qualifies as a mass disruption, so youâre entitled to a refund or rebooking.
If youâre flying from Europe to the US, your flight is also grounded by Eurocontrol. MY TAKE: This isnât another 9/11.
The government has made that clear. But it is a huge warning sign about US infrastructure. A country that canât keep its air traffic control system running because of a telecommunications failure is a vulnerable country. And the market knows it. The most concerning thing isnât the failure itself.
Itâs that nobody knows how long it will last. âUntil further noticeâ + âIt wonât be resolved in an hourâ = total uncertainty. Weâll be watching closely. If itâs confirmed to have been just a technical failure, things will bounce back on Monday. If another explanation emerges...
