Toronto Pearson airport halts U.S. flights after FAA’s nationwide order grounding all planes - Toronto Star

Pearson's move to halt American flights comes as the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop over a communications issue.

Pearson advised passengers to check directly with their airline for the latest flight information before heading to the airport and said it would continue to update.

U.S. flights going to and from Toronto Pearson International Airport have been halted amid a nationwide grounding of planes south of the border.

“There are currently no scheduled U.S.-bound departures or arrivals at this time,” due to the U.S.-based Federal Aviation Administration’s “ground stop” of American flights, Pearson airport’s social media account posted just before 5 p.m. Friday.

Pearson advised passengers to check directly with their airline for the latest flight information before heading to the airport and said it would continue to update. 

Billy Bishop airport said it was aware of the FAA’s ground stop, but did not say whether American flights into and out of the island airport were affected. It advised passengers to contact their airlines directly for information about flight status, delays and cancellations. 

Air Canada flights to or from the Caribbean and South America that cross U.S. airspace could also be affected, the airline wrote on social media.

NAV Canada, the nation’s air navigation service provider, said its systems are operating normally, but travelers should expect delays, and it is “implementing traffic management measures” at Toronto Pearson, Montreal-Trudeau, Calgary and Vancouver airports to safely manage traffic volumes, the provider wrote in a post.

At Pearson’s Terminal 3 Friday night, the mood was weary among U.S.-bound travellers, some who curled up on the floor next to their luggage or were stuck on hold with their airlines.

Hannah Vollen, who was expecting to fly to Washington, D.C., overheard fellow travellers panicking about cancellations and opened X to learn she wouldn’t be making it home.

“I’m really sad because I had plans tonight,” said Vollen, who sat next to her luggage on the floor.

The consultant, who was visiting Toronto for work, said she’ll be shelling out $330 for a hotel room. “I don’t know if that price is because of the outage, but that’s a lot,” she said.

The FAA grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon because of communications problems at regional air traffic control centres. The FAA notice said the ground stop was being imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centres that direct planes between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating.

The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.

This is the first nationwide ground stop in the U.S. since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that, the last time was in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Joshua Smith is a staff reporter with the Toronto Star. He can be reached at joshuasmith@thestar.ca.