The Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, says officials have not discussed any timeframe for resolving the FAA communications outage behind the nationwide ground stop, and that it will not be fixed within the hour.
CNN reports that Mullin told reporters at the White House on Friday evening:
"We have not discussed any timeframe."
"It's going to take some time. And so this isn't going to just be resolved and turned around within the hour."
Mullin said the administration was focused on passenger safety, according to CNN.
His remarks are the clearest official sign yet that the stop may run past the estimated end time on the FAA advisory, which gives 11pm ET (4am UK time on Saturday) as an estimate rather than a point at which the order lapses. NBC News reports that the advisory still says all departing traffic is to remain ground stopped until further notice.
The FAA's own order, as reported earlier, says only that all airports are ground stopped "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety". Mullin's reference to a communications outage, as reported by CNN, is the first official description of what lies behind it.