Friday, November 13th at 5PM CST 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a nationwide ground stop affecting departing flights at U.S. airports. This disruption will delay domestic air transportation and will affect the timely movement of specimen shipments. 

Note: If your samples are transported to Mayo Clinic Laboratories by ground transportation, they may not be impacted by this event.  

Please take the following action immediately: 

• If your shipment has not yet been picked up or tendered: Please hold the shipment at your facility and maintain all required specimen storage and temperature conditions. Do not release the shipment to a courier or carrier until you receive further direction. 
• If your shipment has already been picked up: We will contact the courier to attempt to return specimens to you.  
• If you ship on your own: Specimens that were shipped today may be affected. Please contact your shipping site and see if retrieval is possible.  

We will hold return tech-only specimens and supplies until further notice. 

We are actively monitoring the situation with carriers and will provide additional guidance when air operations resume and shipment movement can proceed reliably. Please do not resume shipping specimens until instructed to do so.  

We will continue to provide updates on the situation as more information becomes available. If you have questions, please contact Customer Service at 800-533-1710.