Portland Airport Halts Departures After Nationwide Tech Glitch

On Nov. 13, Portland International Airport stopped all departures. A nationwide technology problem led the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a ground stop. That order keeps planes on the ground. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said communication problems at regional air traffic control centers caused the issue. FAA technicians were investigating, he said. He promised quick updates.

PDX said on its website that no flights were leaving at that time. The FAA said departing aircraft had to stay put until further notice. A ground stop is a traffic-management tool. The FAA uses it when air traffic control cannot safely handle planes. Reasons can include bad weather, broken equipment, or security threats. Flightradar24 said an equipment outage was one reason for this order. That shows how one tech failure can ripple across many airports at once.

Planes already flying were not expected to turn around. PDX said they should still land on schedule. By 2:36 p.m., arrivals at PDX were late by 15 minutes or less, according to the FAA's PDX page. Travelers were told to check with their airlines for the latest flight details.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said every flight had been accounted for. Airports would use a priority list as planes started arriving, he said. He also said there was no sign yet that the problem was an attack. At that point, it looked like a telecommunications outage. The last ground stop happened in January 2023. That one followed a failure in the Notice to Air Missions system, which gives flight crews key safety information.