The Federal Aviation Administration imposed a nationwide ground stop for more than four hours on Friday, November 13, 2026, disrupting travel for multiple college football, NBA, NHL, and women’s basketball teams ahead of weekend games.
The FAA cited "extraordinary circumstances" caused by communications issues at regional air traffic control centers. Departures resumed Friday evening.
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Multiple college football teams were affected. No. 2 Utah was scheduled to play at No. 22 Arizona. Eighth-ranked Texas was set to visit No. 24 LSU. No. 9 Tennessee was traveling to Texas A&M. All three teams halted travel during the stoppage; Texas and Tennessee returned to campus and later rebooked flights. Auburn chartered buses to Mississippi State, prompting the SEC to move the game’s start time from noon ET to 4:15 p.m. No. 19 Ole Miss canceled its Friday flight to Oklahoma and assessed Saturday options. Purdue took buses from West Lafayette, Indiana, to play at No. 15 Iowa. The Big 12 moved Kansas’ game at West Virginia to 3:30 p.m. ET. Arizona State deplaned and returned home during the stoppage, then planned to fly to Orlando on Saturday; its game against UCF shifted from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. Oregon State began traveling by bus to Boise before returning to the airport Friday evening to fly instead. Tulane boarded five buses for the 350-mile drive to Houston to face Rice. Other affected schools included Baylor Bears, Kansas State Wildcats, Washington Huskies, and Minnesota Golden Gophers.
In the NBA, the Brooklyn Nets had just boarded their team plane in New Orleans after playing the Pelicans when their flight to Memphis was halted. The Cleveland Cavaliers played in Miami on Friday night and were scheduled to host the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday; coach Kenny Atkinson said the team scrambled for hotel rooms 90 minutes before tip-off “just in case.” The Detroit Pistons flew to Miami earlier in the day. The Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies played Friday night and required postgame flights. The Cavaliers, Bulls, and Grizzlies were all due to fly after their Friday games.
In the NHL, the San Jose Sharks waited in San Jose to learn whether they could fly to Utah for Saturday’s game. The Florida Panthers arrived at their destination before the ground stop began.
In women’s college basketball, No. 3 USC guard JuJu Watkins and her teammates boarded a flight at Los Angeles International Airport for Sunday’s game at South Carolina but deboarded after the ground stop order and returned to the Galen Center.
In the National Women’s Soccer League, the Utah Royals were already in the Washington, D.C., area for Saturday’s semifinal against the Washington Spirit. The Kansas City Current were scheduled to depart Friday for Sunday’s semifinal against Gotham FC in New York but faced uncertainty about flight timing.
The U.S. men’s national team’s match against Haiti on Saturday in Miami was unaffected — both teams and officials were already in town for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal series.
The Big Ten confirmed all its officials arrived for Saturday assignments. NFL teams scheduled for Sunday games were expected to travel as planned on Saturday.
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