UK Airports Face Severe Disruption After Federal Aviation Administration Grounds US Flights

OPA WIRE, Nov 14 (OPA) — Airports across the United Kingdom reported severe delays and cancellations on Saturday following a sweeping Federal Aviation Administration order halting all air traffic across the United States. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows nearly 10,000 flights to and from the United States have been canceled through Saturday, marking the most significant disruption of its kind since the September 11 attacks.

Major US carriers absorbed the heaviest blows. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines each canceled more than 2,200 flights, while United Airlines grounded 1,800 services and Southwest canceled nearly 1,400. In the UK, London Heathrow departures and arrivals boards displayed numerous cancellations, including American Airlines services to Dallas, United Airlines flights to Houston, and a British Airways service originating from New York.

A British Airways spokesperson stated that departing flights from the United States face delays due to ongoing air traffic control issues entirely outside of the airline's control. Manchester Airport confirmed that three US-bound Virgin Atlantic flights scheduled for Saturday morning face potential delays or cancellations if authorities do not swiftly lift the nationwide directive.

The widespread grounding comes just three days after the FAA rolled out a new artificial intelligence air traffic management system. The technology, known as the Strategic Management of Airspace or 'SMART,' was deployed across 22 air route traffic control centers on Tuesday to integrate roughly 200 data streams onto a single platform. Aviation authorities have not yet formally linked the technical system rollout to the emergency ground stop order.