Only 336 flights worldwide were airborne and bound for the US at the lowest point of the FAA's nationwide ground stop, Flightradar24 said on X, as reported by Al Jazeera. Flightradar24 had earlier put the number of US-bound flights in the air when the stop was issued at 4,042.
Aviation data firm Cirium told Al Jazeera that at least 827 flights had diverted by 7.05pm ET. Of those, 670 returned to their departure airport and 157 landed elsewhere. The two parts add up to the 827 total.
Citing Flightradar24, Al Jazeera reports more than 4,700 cancellations and 10,000 delays on Friday 13 November, with 700 flights already cancelled for Saturday. These counts have not been independently checked.
According to Al Jazeera, the FAA lifted the stop at 8.15pm ET, which was 01.15 GMT on Saturday, after a telecoms outage affecting the 22 en route centres. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said "We've opened up the airspace", adding: "It's going to be slow".