Bus Keys and Backup Plans: The NFL Waits Out the Nationwide Ground Stop With Week 10 Travel Set for Saturday

Every NFL team runs on a schedule written down to the minute: the Saturday walk-through, the meetings, the team flight, the hotel, the night-before snack. On Friday afternoon a nationwide ground stop put a question mark next to one line of that schedule for most of the league, and the clubs with road games this weekend spent the evening waiting on the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA halted departing flights across the country at about 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday, citing a failure in the communications system used by air traffic control, CNBC reported. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the stop shortly after 1 p.m. Pacific time, according to the Associated Press. The FAA listed an effective window running to 11:30 p.m. Eastern while also saying flights were grounded until further notice, Yahoo Sports reported. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday evening there was no timeline yet for restarting flights, and that the problem was not connected to Thursday's global Microsoft outage, according to CNN's live coverage. It is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system failed.

The good news for the NFL is the calendar. The league told CNN that all of its teams are scheduled to travel on Saturday, which gives the FAA the rest of Friday night to restore normal operations before the first charter needs to leave. Asked about the stop, a league spokesman said, "We could address the issue at the appropriate time, if necessary".

No changes to the Week 10 schedule had been announced as of Friday evening. The Spun pointed to reporting that every game was still expected to go on as planned, while the AP noted the stop reached most of the NFL's Week 10 slate, along with men's and women's college basketball and other events.

Two teams are not sweating it at all. The Detroit Lions and New England Patriots were already in Germany for Sunday's game at Allianz Arena in Munich, the league told CNN.

For a handful of clubs, the worst case is a long bus ride rather than a missed kickoff. The AP pointed out that Pittsburgh's trip to Cincinnati, the Rams' trip to Arizona, Minnesota's visit to Green Bay and Buffalo's short hop to face the Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey, could all be made on the highway.

The Rams have drawn the most attention. Los Angeles was scheduled to fly out Saturday afternoon, and if the grounding drags through Saturday the club could be looking at a charter-bus trip of roughly 390 miles to Arizona, a ride of six to seven hours in good traffic, according to the New York Post and Yahoo Sports. As of Friday evening the Rams had not announced a backup plan, and there was no sign their scheduled departure would change.

Others do not have that option. The Chargers face a cross-country trip to Baltimore to play the Ravens, though that game is set for Monday night, which leaves them an extra day of cushion. The 49ers, who bring a 7-1 record to Dallas, were also named among the teams whose plans could be thrown off. The Spun warned that if the stop lingers into Saturday, there will be real questions about how the full Week 10 slate gets played.

College football took the first hit on Friday, as programs headed to Saturday games were left scrambling, the AP reported. The NFL has a little more breathing room, but not much. Football players are creatures of routine, and any coach will tell you the hours before a game matter almost as much as the game itself. A six-hour bus ride the day before kickoff is not the end of the world, but it is not how any staff wants to spend a Saturday.

There is also a bigger picture. Travelers across the country were stuck at their gates on Friday night, and a football game is a small thing next to families trying to get home. The league has been wise to keep its comments calm and its options open rather than add to the noise.

Watch for two things on Saturday morning: whether the FAA has cleared departures overnight, and whether any club announces a change in travel. If the planes are flying by Saturday afternoon, this becomes a footnote to the season. If not, expect the teams within driving distance to load the buses and the league office to have a long day sorting out the rest.

For now, the plan for Sunday has not changed, and every team is still preparing to play.