Nationwide FAA ground stop threatens Arizona-Utah, ASU-UCF games

A nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop has thrown a wrench into college football travel plans across the country, directly impacting Saturday’s showdown in Tucson between No. 2 Utah and No. 23 Arizona, and Arizona State’s trip to Orlando to take on UCF about 24 hours away from kickoff.

The FAA ordered a complete halt to all flights nationwide due to a communication issue impacting Air Route Traffic Control Centers. The sudden grounding has left teams scrambling as travel windows rapidly narrow.

Utah is currently stuck in Salt Lake City, according to Josh Furlong, ahead of its game against Arizona, which is set to kick off at Casino Del Sol Stadium at 5:30 p.m. on Fox. The Utes have been unable to depart as the FAA works to resolve the nationwide telecommunications outage.

Furlong reported Utah is not considering a 12.5-hour bus ride to Tucson at this time.

Meanwhile, Arizona State faces an even more daunting logistical hurdle ahead of its matchup against UCF.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport announced to passengers that flights may not depart until at least 9 p.m. MST (11 p.m. EST), according to Chris Karpman on X.

Arizona Sports‘ John Gambadoro reported the Sun Devils “have not been told a time that they can leave.”

Gambadoro said he is hearing options are on the table to adjust the game time for ASU, which would be applicable to other games as well. The Sun Devils’ game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MST on ESPN2.

Karpman noted that if that timeline holds true, it becomes difficult to expect that ASU could reasonably play Saturday afternoon, as an arrival in Orlando wouldn’t happen until roughly 4 a.m.

With the ground stop halting departures indefinitely and travel itineraries thrown into chaos, athletic departments and conference officials are left monitoring a rapidly evolving situation with kickoff rapidly approaching.

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