Status as of Saturday, 14 November 2026, about 5.30pm Singapore time.

If you have a flight to, from or within the United States this weekend, you may have seen headlines about all US flights being grounded. The ground stop has ended, but its knock-on effects can last for days. Here is a short guide for Singapore travellers.

What happened?

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday, 13 November, halting departing flights across the United States. The Straits Times reported that the order was announced at 3.54pm Eastern Time, which was 4.54am on 14 November in Singapore, and linked it to an equipment outage affecting air traffic communications. Yahoo Finance reports that the ground stop was lifted at 8.15pm Eastern Time on Friday (about 9.15am Singapore time on Saturday) after switches and routers were overloaded with data. Reports differ slightly on the exact start time and details of the cause, so treat these as early accounts.

In a ground stop, departing flights cannot take off, while flights already in the air may continue to their destination. Yahoo Finance reports that over 10,000 flights were disrupted, with delays expected to extend into the weekend.

Does it affect flights from Singapore?

We did not find any report of Changi flights being cancelled or of direct Singapore-to-US services being grounded. The bigger risk is for connections: if you land in the US and your onward flight was among those halted, you may be rebooked or delayed.

Your survival checklist

  1. Check your flight status on your airline's app or website before leaving for the airport. Airports can look calm while schedules are still catching up.
  2. Turn on notifications and make sure your contact details are correct in your booking.
  3. Do not go to the airport only to queue at the counter. Try rebooking in the app or by phone first.
  4. If your trip includes a tight connection, ask the airline about a safer option. A single ticket usually gives you more protection than separate bookings, so check your booking type.
  5. Keep receipts for meals, hotels and transport. Whether you can claim depends on your airline's policy and your travel insurance, so check the terms.
  6. Check your travel insurance for delay cover and any waiting period before you travel.
  7. Pack essentials in your hand luggage: medication, chargers, a change of clothes and snacks.
  8. Be patient. Airline staff are dealing with large numbers of rebookings.

What is still unclear

The FAA has not yet shared a full explanation in the sources we read, and some social posts offer other causes that we could not verify. We will not speculate.

Heading overseas soon?

Always read your airline's latest advisory before you travel.