A sudden, nationwide ground stop ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration has created potential travel complications for upcoming professional and collegiate football games.
This event marks only the second time a nationwide ground stop has occurred since the Sept. 11 attacks, according to reporting from Yahoo Sports.
The disruption is reportedly caused by a widespread outage affecting air-traffic control functions.
While visiting NFL teams typically schedule their travel for Saturdays, the ongoing situation may prevent some organizations from reaching their game sites on time.
College football programs that typically travel on Fridays are facing an even more immediate logistical challenge.
As noted by NBC Sports Bay Area, the San Francisco 49ers usually travel on Fridays for contests located at least two time zones away.
The team plans to travel on Saturday for their upcoming game against the Dallas Cowboys, per reports from the same outlet.
Some teams may look toward alternative ground transportation to reach their destinations.
Distances such as the 279 miles between Minneapolis and Green Bay or the roughly 290 miles from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati remain feasible for bus or train travel.
Similarly, the trip between Buffalo and New Jersey for the Bills-Jets matchup covers less than 300 miles.
However, longer distances pose a greater struggle for logistical planners.
For example, the 373-mile gap between Los Angeles and Phoenix presents a difficult journey for teams relying on ground transit.
Other matchups, such as the Monday night game between the Chargers and the Ravens, involve much longer distances that are not easily bridged by car or rail.
The situation remains fluid as teams monitor the FAA status to determine if adjustments to their travel itineraries are necessary to ensure attendance at their scheduled games this weekend.