British Airways and Virgin Atlantic cancelled flights between Heathrow and New York on Friday night, 13 November, after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a rare nationwide ground stop that halted departures across the entire United States for more than four hours.
The FAA grounded all US departures from around 3:54pm to 8:15pm US Eastern time (8:54pm to 1:15am UK time) because of a telecommunications outage at air traffic control facilities, which US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said was caused by overloaded and outdated switches and routers rather than a cyberattack. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said investigators found no evidence of an attack. The BBC reported it was the largest US ground stop since the one following the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The disruption reached Heathrow within minutes of the FAA's announcement. British Airways cancelled a Friday evening Heathrow to JFK service, and Virgin Atlantic confirmed its flight VS25 from Heathrow to New York JFK on 13 November was cancelled as a direct result of the US restrictions. Virgin Atlantic said on its website that affected customers were being contacted directly by email or text, and warned that the situation remained fast-moving, with further cancellations or schedule changes possible.
Adding to the chaos, a British Airways flight to New York, BA113, which had departed Heathrow at 5pm with 171 passengers and crew aboard, turned back and diverted to Shannon, Ireland, after a medical emergency on board, arriving amid the same night's confusion over the US airspace restrictions, the Daily Mail reported.
The FAA lifted the ground stop at 8:15pm Eastern time on Friday, but officials cautioned that airlines would need time to reposition aircraft and crews before schedules return to normal. At least 827 flights had been diverted across the US by 7:05pm Eastern time, according to Cirium data cited by the Associated Press, and knock-on delays and cancellations were expected to continue through the weekend as the backlog clears.
This was reported by the BBC, the Associated Press and Virgin Atlantic's own travel advisory, all of which confirmed the ground stop, its cause and the direct cancellation of transatlantic Heathrow services.
What this means for your journey: if you are flying to or from the US via Heathrow this weekend, check your flight status directly with your airline before travelling, as delays are expected to continue while airlines reposition aircraft and crews. If you need a lift to the terminal while schedules are in flux, see our guide to /taxis/ at Heathrow.