Toronto Latinos | November 13, 2026

Toronto Pearson and Montréal-Trudeau reported suspending flights to and from the United States on Friday after a telecommunications outage prompted a nationwide U.S. ground stop. By Friday evening, FlightAware had recorded more than 1,000 cancellations and nearly 10,000 delays, Reuters reported. A confirmed count of stranded travellers, including Canadians, was still unavailable. 

What caused the ground stop?

Just before 4 p.m. Toronto time, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered departures held on the ground after communications problems hit regional air traffic control centres that guide planes between airports. Aircraft already in the air could land, and the FAA handled inbound international flights case by case. It was the first nationwide U.S. ground stop since January 2023. 

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the problem as a telecommunications outage and said officials had seen no evidence of an attack at that point. FAA technicians were still investigating what triggered the failure. 

How many people were stranded?

The exact number remains unknown. The Associated Press reported that more than 1.5 million passengers were scheduled to depart U.S. airports after 4 p.m. ET. That figure reflects scheduled travel and includes passengers whose flights may have departed later or received clearance. Aviation data firm Cirium separately counted 600 diversions by 5:50 p.m. ET, including 496 flights that returned to their departure airports. 

How Canada, Mexico and other routes were affected

NAV CANADA said its systems were operating normally and took steps to manage traffic at Toronto Pearson, Montréal-Trudeau, Calgary and Vancouver. Ottawa also reported disruptions to U.S. arrivals and departures. Air Canada said flights to and from the Caribbean and South America could be affected as well. 

The disruption reached Mexico, where the federal aviation agency temporarily grounded scheduled U.S.-bound departures. If you’re flying out of Toronto or waiting to fly home from the U.S., check your flight and any connections directly with your airline before heading to the airport. 

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