BNA flight delays after FAA ground stop

By Midstate Daily Travel Desk · Edited by Channing Webb · Nov. 14, 2026

The Nashville Live music stage inside the terminal at Nashville International Airport (file photo) — File photo: Artaxerxes via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (source)

TLDRDozens of flights at Nashville International Airport were still delayed or canceled Saturday after Friday's nationwide FAA ground stop, which halted departures for about four hours. The FAA says airline schedules should be back to normal by the end of Sunday. Check your airline's app before you leave home, expect long rental car and rideshare lines, and know that federal rules require a refund if your flight is canceled and you choose not to travel.

Midstate Daily may earn a commission from Amazon links.

If you're flying out of Nashville this weekend, check your flight before you head to the airport. Airlines are still digging out from Friday's nationwide ground stop, and BNA passengers are feeling it.

What happened Friday

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop for all U.S. airports Friday afternoon after communication problems hit multiple air route traffic control centers, the agency said in a statement. Departures from Nashville International Airport stopped just before 3 p.m., The Tennessean reported.

The order was lifted around 7:15 p.m. Central. By 6 p.m., BNA had 322 delays and 77 cancellations, according to FlightAware data cited by The Tennessean. Flights to New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Columbus and Charlotte were among those canceled, NewsChannel 5 reported.

Saturday at BNA

Dozens of Nashville flights were still delayed or canceled Saturday morning, The Tennessean reported. WSMV said some travelers slept on the airport floor overnight.

Nationwide, more than 4,000 flights had been canceled Saturday morning, about 14% of U.S. departures, NPR reported, citing aviation data firm Cirium. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said airlines expect to have "full schedule integrity by the close of business on Sunday," according to NPR.

What caused it

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday the outage started during routine maintenance at a remote FAA site, where contractor L3Harris was replacing old copper telecommunication lines with fiber, NPR reported. A router began flooding the air traffic control network with traffic, Scripps News reported. Investigators are still working out whether it was an installation error or faulty equipment. Officials said there is no evidence of a cyberattack.

Before you go to the airport

Check your flight status in your airline's app or website before leaving home, and again before you get in the car. Conditions are changing quickly, NewsChannel 5 noted.

If you're picking someone up, expect crowds at the rideshare and pickup areas. FOX 17 reported major rideshare backups Friday night.

Plan for a wait, too. Lines at airline counters can be long during a recovery like this, and a portable phone charger can keep you connected to your airline app while you wait.

Rental cars and hotels

If you're thinking about driving instead, check availability first. During a FOX 17 check Friday, six of BNA's 10 rental car companies reported they were sold out: Alamo, Avis, Dollar, Enterprise, National and Thrifty. Hotels near the airport also filled quickly Friday night, NewsChannel 5 reported.

Your refund rights

The U.S. Department of Transportation requires airlines to give a full refund if they cancel or significantly delay your flight and you choose not to travel or accept a credit or voucher. For domestic flights, a significant delay means arriving three or more hours late, The Tennessean reported. You can read the rules on the DOT's refunds page.

BNA has been in the news a lot this week. Read our coverage of the Metro Council fight over airplane noise, and if you're staying put, check out our things to do in Nashville this weekend.

Sources

Affiliate disclosure: Midstate Daily is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. We may earn a commission when you buy through Amazon links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Links never affect our news coverage.