The Federal Aviation Administration has lifted the nationwide ground stop that disrupted air travel across the United States on Friday, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, but the V.I. Port Authority is warning that flight delays may continue Saturday as airport operations return to normal.
In an updated travel advisory issued Saturday morning, November 14, VIPA confirmed that the federal restriction had been lifted and advised passengers traveling through Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas and Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix to anticipate continued disruptions.
"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted the ground stop. However, travelers should anticipate continued flight delays as operations return to normal," the authority stated.
"Passengers are strongly encouraged to contact their respective airlines directly to confirm flight status and check for schedule changes before heading to the airports," VIPA added.
The announcement follows Friday's extraordinary nationwide grounding of departing aircraft, imposed after communications failures affected multiple air traffic control centers responsible for managing flights across the country.
In its original nationwide ground stop advisory, the FAA cited "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety," ordering departing aircraft to remain grounded until further notice.
The restriction took effect at approximately 4:54 p.m. Virgin Islands time Friday and remained in place for more than four hours. The FAA subsequently issued a cancellation advisory at approximately 9:19 p.m. Virgin Islands time, authorizing departures to resume.
Before the nationwide restriction was lifted, VIPA had informed the Consortium that the FAA separately authorized inter-island flights within the territory, providing an exception to the broader grounding order.
The FAA confirmed that communications problems affected multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers. During a subsequent federal briefing, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the disruption to an overloaded, aging analog communications system. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication that the outage resulted from a cyberattack.
Although the nationwide restriction has ended, the resumption of flights does not mean normal airline schedules have been fully restored. Federal officials have cautioned that clearing the accumulated disruptions will take time.
VIPA's latest advisory did not specify how many flights at either territorial airport had been delayed or canceled.
Friday's nationwide grounding was the first since January 11, 2023, when a failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions system prompted a similar halt. As The Consortium reported at the time, departures from the Virgin Islands were delayed before federal officials restored normal operations.
Travelers departing from or arriving at either territorial airport Saturday are encouraged to verify their flight status directly with their airlines before traveling to the airport.
