On October 25, 2026, the FAA held 10 airports in the United States under 11 delay programmes in total, according to data tracked by travelandtournews.com from the FAA National Airspace System status feed. The worst-hit airport was San Diego International (SAN), where a ground delay programme for airport volume caused peak delays of up to 78 minutes.
FAA Delay Programmes Across Ten US Airports
The 10 airports affected on this day were AUS, FLL, MCO, MIA, OPF, PHX, SAN, SEA, TEB, and YUL. The FAA implemented three types of programmes: one ground stop, three ground delay programmes, and seven general arrival/departure delay status updates.
A ground stop, which delays departures at their origin before takeoff, was employed solely at TEB due to airport volume constraints, lasting 40 minutes between 21:40 and 22:20 UTC without recorded peak delays during that window.
Ground delay programmes, which meter arrival flows by assigning delayed departure times, were in effect at three airports. San Diego International (SAN) experienced the
longest programme, operating for six hours from 13:40 to 19:40 UTC, peaking at 34 average minutes and 78 maximum minutes of delays due to airport volume. Austin-Bergstrom International (AUS) ran a four-hour delay from 18:20 to 22:20 UTC with peak delays of 24 average and 72 maximum minutes caused by runway construction. Montréal–Trudeau International (YUL) had a similar runway construction-related programme lasting 3 hours 20 minutes from 17:40 to 21:00 UTC, with peak average delays of 14 minutes and a maximum of 70.
The remaining seven programmes listed general arrival and departure delay information without imposing ground stops or meter-based
arrival management but still tracked delays. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) and Orlando International (MCO) saw delays primarily from traffic management initiatives related to weather. Seattle-Tacoma (SEA) and Miami International (MIA) experienced delays due to runway construction. Others had causes such as compacted demand or multi-taxi operations.
| Airport | FAA programme | Cause | Peak average delay | In force (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEB | Ground Stop Programs | airport volume | – | 21:40 to 22:20 (40 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | Ground Delay Programs | airport volume | 34 min | 13:40 to 19:40 (6 hours) |
| AUS | Ground Delay Programs | runway construction | 24 min | 18:20 to 22:20 (4 hours) |
| YUL | Ground Delay Programs | runway construction | 14 min | 17:40 to 21:00 (3 hours 20 minutes) |
| Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:MIT:WX | 31 min | 17:20 to 19:20 (2 hours) |
| OPF | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Compacted Demand | 31 min | 19:00 to 19:20 (20 minutes) |
| Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | RWY:Construction | 16 min | 16:00 to 20:00 (4 hours) |
| Miami International (MIA) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | RWY:Construction | 16 min | 15:00 to 15:20 (20 minutes) |
| Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Multi-taxi | 16 min | 16:40 to 16:40 (20 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Compacted Demand | 16 min | 17:40 to 17:40 (20 minutes) |
| Orlando International (MCO) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:MIT:WX | 16 min | 22:00 to 22:20 (20 minutes) |
Runway Construction and Airport Volume as Leading Causes
The leading reasons for delay programmes were runway construction and airport volume factors. Runway construction appeared as a cause in 33 samples across four airports (AUS, YUL, SEA, MIA), making it the single most frequent cause. Airport volume was cited 22 times overall, prominently driving the long-lasting ground delay programme at San Diego and the
ground stop at TEB.
Other notable causes included traffic management initiatives due to weather (nine samples), and compacted demand (three samples). Specific volume-related terms such as “VOL:Compacted Demand” and “VOL:Multi-taxi” accounted for a smaller number of samples.
Comparison to Previous Day and Weekly Average
The 10 airports affected on October 25 represent an increase of three airports compared to seven on the previous day. Total programmes nearly doubled from seven to 11. The affected airport count remains slightly below the recent seven-day average of 12.6 airports. This day was not the worst in the weekly tracking window.
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 68 samples taken between 00:00 and 22:20 UTC on 2026-10-25. 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.
