San Francisco International Airport (SFO) experienced several Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ground stops on Monday, November 9, 2026, starting shortly before 8 a.m. Pacific Time. The initial FAA ground stop lasted until roughly 9:15 a.m., after which ground delay programs remained active. Additional ground stops occurred around 10:28 a.m. and shortly before noon, intermittently restricting arrivals and departures throughout the morning.
By approximately 10:30 a.m. PT, the FAA reported 187 flights delayed and three cancellations at SFO. Arriving flights faced an average delay of about 63 minutes. The FAA managed congestion by holding departures at other U.S. airports destined for
San Francisco, even when those origin airports had clear weather conditions, to prevent overload in SFO’s airspace.
The ground stops were triggered by dense fog and low cloud ceilings over the San Francisco Bay area, which severely reduced visibility. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, visibility at SFO dropped to approximately 0.13 miles around 8 a.m. The National Weather Service issued a dense fog advisory for San Francisco and the nearby bay shoreline, warning of visibility as low as a quarter mile. The airport’s proximity to the bay makes it prone to coastal fog, leading to low-visibility operating procedures and
increased spacing between aircraft that reduce airport capacity.
Passengers at SFO faced delays and cancellations, with some aircraft grounded on the tarmac during the FAA-imposed restrictions. Travelers flying from other U.S. airports to San Francisco also experienced delays as FAA ground holds applied to their flights before departure. Connecting passengers through SFO should expect longer waits due to the disrupted schedules.
The FAA uses ground stops and ground delay programs as air traffic management tools to regulate arrivals and departures during periods of adverse weather. These measures allow the FAA to manage limited airport capacity caused by reduced visibility without
closing the airport. FAA traffic management information confirmed multiple restrictions during November 9, with the timing and duration changing as weather conditions evolved. Further updates on the operational impact for later flights are pending.
