FAA outage grounds São Paulo–US flights; LATAM cancels four services, stranding 1,047 passengers

A telecommunications failure at US air traffic control centres halted all departures nationwide for about four hours on Friday (November 13), and the disruption reached South America. São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport was told to hold all US-linked flights, and LATAM Airlines cancelled four services from São Paulo to the United States, affecting about 1,047 passengers.

Four US-bound flights cancelled

According to Brazilian aviation reporting, LATAM Brasil cancelled its November 13 departures from Guarulhos to Boston, New York JFK, Miami and Los Angeles. Many Brazil–US long-haul flights depart in the evening, coinciding with the nationwide US ground stop, which made the impact especially severe. The airport operator confirmed it had received an alert about restrictions on flights to and from the United States.

Azul also cancelled its flights between Campinas Viracopos airport and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, including Saturday's return flight, and rebooked passengers onto extra flights.

Flights gradually resuming on Saturday

In a statement early on Saturday (November 14), LATAM confirmed that the FAA had lifted the restrictions and that flight operations were gradually resuming. Passengers affected by the cancellations will be contacted directly and rebooked free of charge; the airline advised travellers to check their flight status on its website or app before heading to the airport.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the reopening of US airspace but warned that departures would pick up slowly, with operations expected to run more smoothly on Saturday. Brazil's civil aviation regulator ANAC reminded passengers that airlines must provide food, communication and accommodation assistance when flights are cancelled or heavily delayed.

This site reported the nationwide US ground stop yesterday; the São Paulo cancellations are the outage's direct impact on Brazil. (Sources: LATAM statement, Brazilian aviation reporting, The Rio Times)