Newfoundland local airport was ready to receive diverted passengers in U.S. flight stop

Doris MacDougall, a visitor from Vancouver, views the 9/11 Community Mosaic Mural in the foyer of the Gander International Airport in Gander, N.L., on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. The piece was created from over 600 individually painted tiles commemorating the kindness shown by local residents during the 9/11 attack. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

ST. JOHN’S — An airport in a Newfoundland town known for its care of stranded plane passengers was on the ready Friday as flights were grounded for several hours in the United States.

Reg White, chief executive of the airport authority in Gander, N.L., said he called the local hotels for vacancy numbers and made sure the restaurant could stay open if planes were diverted to the town.

White said there was some relief when the so-called ground stop was lifted Friday night without any diversions to Gander — it meant the Christmas craft fair could go ahead in the airport as planned on Saturday.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had a so-called ground stop order in place for more than four hours beginning Friday afternoon, citing communications issues affecting air traffic control centres.

The people of Gander famously cared for thousands of passengers stranded in the town when planes were grounded after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

White said he didn’t brace for an onslaught of planes on Friday because there were no flights between Gander and the United States, nor was it a peak time for flights between the U.S. and Europe.