The Federal Aviation Administration issued ground stops at 10 U.S. airports on September 3, 2026, in response to severe thunderstorms disrupting air traffic across the Northeast corridor. This included New York area airports such as LaGuardia, Newark, and John F. Kennedy International Airport, where all departures were temporarily halted due to the weather.
LaGuardia Airport reported average ground delays of 45 minutes during the thunderstorms. Newark Airport experienced average delays reaching two hours at peak periods. Boston Logan International Airport recorded 19 delayed flights amid the storm activity. The disruption extended across the tri-state region and reached airports around New
York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., affecting arrivals and departures alike.
The storm event marked a rare instance of severe weather lasting three consecutive days, impacting air traffic on September 1, 2, and 3. This persistent thunderstorm activity disrupted the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic airspace, causing cascading cancellations and delays among all major United States airlines. The weather challenges coincided with the Labor Day weekend, traditionally a period of high passenger traffic.
According to the FAA, ground stops are typically imposed for short-duration weather events when full Ground Delay Programs cannot yet be modeled. Alongside the ground stops, ground-delay programs were
active at Newark, JFK, and LaGuardia airports to control flow amid the weather disturbances. The FAA continues to track these disruptions in real time via the National Airspace System Status page.
