March 10, 2026 — Washington, D.C. — The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop for all JetBlue Airways departures around 12:35 a.m. ET at the airline’s request, halting takeoffs across the U.S. due to an internal IT system outage.
The ground stop, which lasted 40 to 90 minutes and was lifted by approximately 1:30 to 2:10 a.m. ET, affected departures but permitted airborne flights to continue, according to reports from multiple outlets. Operations resumed shortly after the FAA canceled the stop once JetBlue resolved the issue.
Incident Details
The FAA acted on JetBlue’s request amid the outage, as confirmed by New York Times and CNN coverage. AP News reported a roughly 40-minute duration, while other sources noted up to 90 minutes. The event had nationwide impact, as detailed by USA Today and WTOP.
Screenshot from aviation account showing ground stop notice.
JetBlue’s Response
JetBlue issued a statement saying:
A brief system outage has been resolved and we have resumed operations.
The airline provided no further details on the outage’s cause, per Fox Business and UPI.
Social Media Reactions
Aviation accounts on X quickly noted the event. @Aviationa2z posted, “JetBlue Restarts Flights After Mysterious 90-Minute Ground Stop,” garnering hundreds of views. @nextflyapp confirmed the lift, and @yashar shared an AP report sparking discussion.
No FAA advisories or unrelated incidents like crashes were linked to the event. For related aviation updates, see Aeronautics Online sitemap.
