On October 10, 2026, the FAA held 17 airports across the United States under 24 delay programmes. The worst-hit airport was Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX), where delays peaked at 601 minutes.
Delay Programmes Across US Airports on October 10
Seventeen airports experienced delay programmes, including major hubs such as Boston Logan International (BOS), Chicago O’Hare International (ORD), San Francisco International (SFO), and John F. Kennedy International (JFK). The three types of programmes in place were Ground Stop Programs, Ground Delay Programs, and General Arrival/Departure Delay Info. Ground stops hold departures bound for an airport on the ground at their origin, while ground delay programmes meter arrivals by assigning later departure times.
Ground Stops were observed at three airports: Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) due to thunderstorms and staffing issues, Orlando International (MCO) due to thunderstorms, and San Diego International (SAN)
because of wind. These programs lasted 100 minutes at PHX, 60 minutes at MCO, and 20 minutes at SAN.
Seven Ground Delay Programs covered airports like PHX with ‘other’ reasons lasting 80 minutes and peak delays averaging 168 minutes; BOS experienced wind-related delays for 100 minutes, peaking at 88 minutes; and SAN faced airport volume delays lasting 4 hours 20 minutes with peak delays of 55 minutes. Other affected airports with ground delays included ORD, LAS, and YUL with runway construction and wind influencing delays.
The fourteen General Arrival/Departure Delay programmes reported a variety of causes. San Diego International had
delays related to compacted demand, multi-taxi operations, and wind over 18 hours. Phoenix Sky Harbor reported operational initiatives and thunderstorms across 5 hours 20 minutes; Orlando International, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, and others had shorter periods with specific causes like weather initiatives or wind. Peak average delays across these programmes ranged from 16 to 61 minutes.
| Airport | FAA programme | Cause | Peak average delay | In force (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms; STAFFING | – | 20:40 to 22:20 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
| Orlando International (MCO) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 18:40 to 19:40 (1 hour) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | Ground Stop Programs | wind | – | 19:40 to 19:40 (20 minutes) |
| Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) | Ground Delay Programs | other | 168 min | 21:20 to 22:40 (1 hour 20 minutes) |
| Boston Logan International (BOS) | Ground Delay Programs | wind | 88 min | 00:00 to 01:40 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
| Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) | Ground Delay Programs | other | 65 min | 00:00 to 01:40 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
| San Francisco International (SFO) | Ground Delay Programs | other; low ceilings | 57 min | 00:00 to 22:00 (22 hours) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | Ground Delay Programs | airport volume | 55 min | 00:00 to 04:20 (4 hours 20 minutes) |
| Harry Reid International (LAS) | Ground Delay Programs | wind | 36 min | 00:00 to 00:20 (20 minutes) |
| YUL | Ground Delay Programs | runway construction | 21 min | 16:40 to 21:00 (4 hours 20 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Compacted Demand; VOL:Multi-taxi; WX:Wind | 61 min | 04:20 to 22:20 (18 hours) |
| Orlando International (MCO) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:MIT:WX | 61 min | 00:00 to 01:00 (1 hour) |
| Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:ESP:VOL; WX:Thunderstorms | 46 min | 16:00 to 21:20 (5 hours 20 minutes) |
| RSW | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | WX:Tornado/Hurricane | 31 min | 00:00 to 00:40 (40 minutes) |
Thunderstorms and Weather-Related Causes Lead Delay Reasons
FAA-reported reasons driving the delay programmes were diverse. The top overall reasons were categorized as ‘other’ with 27 programmes, followed by low ceilings with 18 programmes, compacted demand causing 15, airport volume responsible for 14, and runway construction also involved in 14 programmes.
Thunderstorms were specifically
recorded as the cause for ground stops at PHX and MCO, and contributed to delays under other programme types at PHX and Salt Lake City. Wind affected delays at SAN, BOS, LAS, and LGA, among others. Construction on runways was cited notably at YUL and JFK.
Stable Delay Impact Compared to Previous Days
The number of affected airports, 17, remained the same as the previous day, which also saw 23 delay programmes, just one less. This count is higher than the recent seven-day average of 13.7 airports under delay programmes, but October 10, 2026, is not the worst day within this tracking period.
Methodology. travelandtournews.com samples the
FAA’s National Airspace System status feed every 20 minutes throughout the US operating day and aggregates the result. This report is built from 69 samples taken between 00:00 and 22:40 UTC on 2026-10-10. Durations are the observed window between the first and last sample in which a programme was in force, so a programme’s true length may be slightly longer than shown. Ground stops, ground delay programmes, airport closures and general delays are all published by the FAA in real time; the daily aggregation is ours.
