The FAA imposed a nationwide ground stop for several hours on Friday due to communications issues, affecting team and official travel before the stoppage was lifted Friday night.
The Story
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide for several hours on Friday, disrupting travel plans for NBA, NHL and college football teams heading into the weekend’s games.
Transportation officials said the stoppage was caused by communications issues at regional air traffic control centres, and it was lifted Friday night in Washington after more than four hours of uncertainty.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that during the ground stop, “general aviation” would be allowed to take place “as a priority,” while “smaller movements” would take lower priority once the stoppage was in effect.
College football was among the most affected. No. 19 Mississippi’s game at Oklahoma was moved from Saturday to Sunday at 1 p.m. EST, and Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny said in a statement that the Southeastern Conference threatened Oklahoma with a forfeit if it did not agree to the change.
Denny said, “I understand that difficult decisions sometimes must be made under extraordinary circumstances,” and added that “this decision isn’t fair to our athletes, our institution or to Sooner nation."
Many teams typically travel the day before a Saturday game, and the stoppage left several schools at a standstill while departing for road games, including No. 2 Utah (at No. 22 Arizona), No. 8 Texas (at No. 24 LSU) and No. 9 Tennessee (travelling to Texas A&M).
The Southeastern Conference said it was “aware of the FAA's nationwide ground stop and the potential impact on team travel,” adding that “the safety and well-being of student-athletes, coaches and team personnel remain our highest priority.”
Texas and Tennessee returned to their campuses during the stoppage. After it was lifted, schools began arranging flights to leave as soon as possible in order to arrive before game day.
Auburn took a bus to Mississippi State after the stoppage, while the SEC moved the Tigers’ Saturday start time from noon EST to 4:15 p.m. to create a buffer. Purdue also decided to board buses from West Lafayette, Indiana, for its game at Iowa.
Other college teams identified as affected included Baylor, Washington, Kansas State, Minnesota and Arizona State. The Big 12 said the Kansas-West Virginia game scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EST was moved up to 3:30 p.m. because Kansas had arrived in plenty of time, which allowed Arizona State’s game against UCF to be shifted from 2:30 p.m. EST to 5:30 p.m.
Washington spokesman Kurt Svoboda said the Huskies returned to campus when their flight was grounded, and that officials remained in contact with airline partners while the flight crew stayed in place. The Huskies ultimately flew out late Friday for their Saturday game at Michigan State, which started at 5:30 p.m. EST—75 minutes later than originally scheduled.
The Big Ten said its officials had arrived for their scheduled assignments on Saturday, and it was unclear whether any referees—who typically fly to assignments the day before games—would have trouble reaching their events.
In the NBA, the Cavaliers played in Miami on Friday night and did not fly home until Saturday morning, leaving roughly eight hours after landing before they hosted the Mavericks. Cleveland had to rebook hotel rooms after checking out earlier in the day.
NHL travel was also disrupted. There were 14 scheduled NHL games Saturday, and the Panthers were among the majority that made it to their destinations before the stoppage. The Sharks, delayed in San Jose, reached Utah later Friday.
JuJu Watkins and her third-ranked Southern California teammates were attempting to reach South Carolina for Sunday’s game against the top-ranked Gamecocks after boarding at Los Angeles International Airport when the stop was issued; the team returned to the Galen Center and planned to fly out Saturday.
In soccer, the Utah Royals were already in the Washington, D.C., area for their National Women’s Soccer League semifinal against the Washington Spirit on Saturday, while the Kansas City Current trained in Kansas City and planned to travel to New York later in the day after their Friday departure was delayed.
The U.S. national team’s match against Haiti on Saturday in Miami was described as unaffected by the ground stop because both teams and officials were already in town for the first leg of a two-match CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal series.
In a note on officials’ broader travel plans, the NFL said teams playing Sunday typically travel the day before and were expected to fly as planned on Saturday, while the league adjusted travel assignments for some officials by reassigning them to within driving distance of their hometowns.
← More stories