FAA Ground Stop Delays Arizona State Football Travel to Orlando

The Arizona State football team charter to Orlando has been delayed by a nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop affecting all airlines for safety reasons. The disruption leaves the Sun Devils’ Friday schedule in question ahead of their upcoming game against UCF.

The Sun Devils have been stopped, and that halt is not happening on the football field. Arizona State football’s charter flight to Orlando has been caught up in a nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stoppage affecting airports across the country, according to Arizona State Sun Devils On SI.

BREAKING: The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday for all airlines "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." https://t.co/PU3fT4R5QO

— Post by @ABC on X

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop for all airlines due to extraordinary circumstances and for safety reasons, ABC News reported. Arizona State was originally scheduled to take off around 3:30 p.m. MST, with a planned landing in Florida at 9:30 p.m. EST following a four-to-five-hour flight.

Ground Stop Freezes Flights

That schedule has been pushed back alongside every other flight in the nation. There is a solid chance Arizona State does not leave until around 9 p.m. local time at the earliest, which pushes their arrival time into the early morning hours.

Nationwide ground stop disrupts travel for ASU, other college football teams — Arizona’s Family (3TV / CBS 5)

Arizona State is one of many college football teams currently affected by the ground stop, leaving the Nov. 14 college football schedule in jeopardy. Numerous college football teams have yet to fly to their destinations, ESPN’s Pete Thamel said. If the stoppage continues, college football games scheduled for Saturday could be canceled or delayed.

“There’s numerous college football teams that have yet to fly to their destinations. If this continues, it could significantly impact college football tomorrow,” Pete Thamel said on ESPN.

Kenny Dillingham Plans to Keep Travel Schedules Consistent

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham was asked about his travel schedule and plan for UCF this week before the ground stop altered their departure.

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“We’re keeping everything the same about the travel. When you’re going across the country. Pretty much, we just get there way later. So we leave at two, we get in at 8:30. But we’re gonna pretty much stay in our own time zone. So, we’ll bed check at 11, 11:30 sometimes, which is 9:30, 10 here, and then we’ll wake them up at 10 o’clock their time. So we’ll try not to adjust,” Kenny Dillingham told Arizona State Sun Devils On SI.

The team typically practices in the morning. Dillingham said that as a West Coast team traveling east, the earliest they can kick off is 9 a.m. their time, which aligns with their usual 9 a.m. practice schedule.

“When you land and it’s dark, and you go to a hotel, you don’t know what time it is, so you may as well just act like it’s eight. So we’re not doing much adjustment of body clocks. We’re just kind of rolling in and out,” Dillingham told Arizona State Sun Devils On SI.

That “in and out” travel plan has been halted at the initial boarding phase by the federal grounding order. The delay threatens to disrupt a critical game for the program in Orlando, though safety remains the primary factor as the situation develops across the national airspace.