60-Plus International Flights Departed as FAA Exempted Hawaii and Alaska Routes During Ground Stop
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Nov 14
60-Plus International Flights Departed as FAA Exempted Hawaii and Alaska Routes During Ground Stop
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 14
Summary
More than 60 overseas-bound flights left the United States during Friday’s nationwide ground stop, even as more than 8,200 flights—over 31% of the schedule—were canceled.
FAA advisories allowed departures once some air traffic control centers recovered, and flights were coordinated through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center.
West Coast departures to Hawaii and some Pacific routes also resumed before the stop ended because controllers could hand aircraft off to Hawaii or Alaska facilities outside the contiguous U.S. system.
Alaska flights, Honolulu international departures and emergency medical aircraft were exempt because those regions and priority operations were considered stable or handled under separate procedures.
Controllers and pilots still had backup communications systems, helping keep exempted long-haul and emergency flights moving while the lower-48 network remained constrained.