Hoobastank, Simple Plan and More Bands Performed Mid-Flight During Nationwide Air Travel Ground Stop

Southwest Airlines brought back its “Live at 35” program during Friday’s nationwide grounding of air travel with performances from artists on their way to Vans Warped Tour.

Hoobastank, The Used, Simple Plan and Lolo performed aboard a Southwest flight from Los Angeles to Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 13 as part of the music program, which hosts surprise midflight pop-up performances. The flight left Los Angeles around 11 a.m., about two hours before the FAA declared a national ground stop that snarled global travel and left more than 1 million people stranded.

Hoobastank took to the aisles at cruising altitude for a live rendition of their 2004 hit “The Reason.” Passengers sang along and posted about the performance on social media. Lolo, who played at Warped Tour’s Long Beach, Calif., stop in July, wrote “Every plane was grounded today, but the emo gods made sure this one flew.”

The sky-high performance came amid a nationwide ground stop for all flights, with the Federal Aviation Administration citing “extraordinary circumstances.” The initial alert came just after 1 p.m. PT on Friday, stranding some 1.5 million travelers by CNN’s estimate. Airborne flights were allowed to continue, but new domestic flights were delayed or canceled, throwing travel plans into question for various industry events over the weekend. The stop was lifted about five hours later, shortly before 6 p.m. PT.

The “Live at 35” artists were in route to the final Vans Warped Tour 2026 stop in Orlando, which runs Nov. 14-15 at Camping World Stadium Campus. The Warped Tour expanded from three to five locations in 2026, with two-day festivals in Washington, D.C., Long Beach and Orlando, Fla. alongside two new international sites in Montreal, Canada and Mexico City.

Founded in 1995, Vans Warped Tour has become a definitive rock and alt festival, featuring 100+ artists across rock, pop punk, alternative, emo and more genres. Past performers include Blink-182, No Doubt, Sublime, Beck, Katy Perry, NOFX, Limp Bizkit, Black Eyed Peas, Green Day, Eminem, Yellowcard, Bad Religion and more.