BATON ROUGE — The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday for all airports due to a communication issue affecting air traffic control.

The agency's alert said the stop was "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an X statement a short while later that the stop was due to, "a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers."

The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 13, 2026

This is the second time since Sept. 11, 2001 that the FAA has ordered a nationwide ground stop. The last time was in 2023, when the FAA NOTAM system went down and pilots could not get their pre-departure paperwork.

Air Route Traffic Control Centers are responsible for all flights above 18,000 feet. There are 22 of those centers in the U.S.

Earlier in the afternoon, the FAA issued a ground stop at both Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports due to an equipment outage.

This is a developing story.