Air India flights to US remain on schedule despite nationwide ground stop, says airline

Air India’s flights connecting India with the United States continued to operate as per schedule, without significant delays, despite a nationwide aviation disruption in the US caused by communication failures affecting air traffic control operations.

According to airline officials cited by ANI, all Air India flights en route to New York, Newark and San Francisco reached their destinations on time early Saturday, November 14. Departures from these three US airports also operated according to schedule, with no major delays reported.

“All Air India flights to and from the United States are operating as per schedule without any significant delays, despite severe air traffic disruptions caused by a nationwide ground stop in the US since last night,” officials said, according to ANI.

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The airline also said its flights were taking off and landing on time, allowing passengers to continue their journeys without significant inconvenience.

FAA imposes nationwide ground stop in US

The development comes after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a nationwide ground stop on departing flights across the United States on Friday, November 13, following communication failures affecting air traffic control centres.

The restriction was introduced at around 3:54 pm Eastern Time, citing extraordinary circumstances and safety concerns. It was lifted at approximately 8:15 pm ET after more than four hours, allowing flight departures to resume.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the disruption to overloaded communications equipment linked to the country's ageing air traffic control infrastructure. The outage affected all 22 air route traffic control centres responsible for managing aircraft movements between airports.

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Although the ground stop was lifted, aviation authorities cautioned that operations would take time to return to normal, with airlines continuing to face delays and cancellations as they reposition aircraft and crew members.

Air India had earlier issued travel advisory

Before reporting that its US services were operating normally, Air India had issued a travel advisory warning passengers about possible disruptions to flights to and from the United States.

The airline had asked travellers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport and plan their journeys according to the latest updates. It also said its teams were closely monitoring the situation and would share further information as necessary.