A ground stop was ordered at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Sunday morning due to a ‘runway equipment issue.’ Hartsfield-Jackson is the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic. Ground stop issued at Atlanta airport due to ‘runway equipment’ outage https://t.co/x0QYbl64yn — WSB-TV (@wsbtv) May 11, 2025 FOX 5 Atlanta reports: Hundreds of flights were delayed at the world’s busiest airport as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) replaced a Sunday afternoon ground stop with a ground delay. Flights taking off from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport didn’t seem to be affected by the ground stop, but Delta Air Lines departures were delayed an average of 19 minutes. The FAA clarified that Delta requested the ground delay, and that it only impacted their flights. During the earlier ground stop, incoming flights couldn’t land due to an apparent “runway equipment issue,” according to officials. The FAA confirmed technicians were on the ground working to address the problem. Just before 12:30 p.m., the ground stop was lifted, according to their website. By 1 p.m., a ground delay had been issued and was not expected to be lifted until 3:59 p.m. However, it appeared to be lifted just before 3 p.m. A Delta spokesperson confirmed the delays were related to an earlier outage at the airport, as well as weather. BREAKING UPDATE: Ground stops have been lifted for East Coast flights coming into Atlanta after the FAA reported an equipment issue at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Internation Aiport. FULL STORY: https://t.co/3BL9hYFkuO — Atlanta News First (@ATLNewsFirst) May 11, 2025 Per 11 Alive: The FAA website listing the ground stop said it began at 10:40 a.m. ET and would last until 12:30 p.m. That was extended from an original listed end time of noon. The ground stop applied to flights departing for Atlanta from numerous zones across the middle and eastern portions of the U.S. An airport spokesperson provided 11Alive the following statement, saying the equipment outage was in the air traffic control tower: “An equipment outage at ATL’s Air Traffic Control Tower is currently causing delays for inbound and outbound aircraft. For further details please contact the FAA. In the meantime, we encourage passengers to contact their respective airlines and visit ATL.com for further information on their individual travel itineraries.”