On August 24, the FAA held 15 airports in the United States under 23 official delay programmes, according to data tracked by travelandtournews.com from the FAA’s daily feeds. Denver International Airport (DEN) was the worst affected, with a ground delay programme peaking at an average delay of 92 minutes and a maximum delay reaching 449 minutes.
Details of Delay Programmes at 15 Airports
The FAA’s official delay tracking identified 15 airports with programmes in force ranging from ground stops to ground delay programmes and general arrival/departure delay information. Ground stops, which prevent departures bound for an airport, affected 4 programmes, while ground delay programmes, which meter arrivals by assigning later departure times, accounted for 7 programmes. The remaining 12 programmes provided general delay information.
The longest delay programme ran at Denver International (DEN) as a ground delay programme for 22 hours, observed over 16 data samples from 00:40 to 22:40 UTC, with peak average delay reaching 92 minutes and a maximum of 449
minutes. A ground stop at DEN lasted 2 hours 40 minutes early in the day from midnight to 02:40 UTC due to thunderstorms.
Other ground stop programmes included Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) under thunderstorms for 1 hour, Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) with low ceilings for 40 minutes, and a brief 20-minute ground stop at San Diego International (SAN) due to airport volume issues.
San Diego (SAN) also experienced a prolonged ground delay programme based on airport volume and demand compaction lasting 21 hours 40 minutes, with a peak average delay of 54 minutes and maximum delay of 192 minutes.
Boston Logan International (BOS) had a ground delay programme lasting 3 hours 20 minutes caused by wind, peaking at 80 minutes average delay.
The John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) saw general arrival/departure delay information over 2 hours, attributed to traffic management initiatives and compacted demand, with delays peaking at 16 minutes on average.
| Airport | FAA programme | Cause | Peak average delay | In force (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver International (DEN) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 00:00 to 02:40 (2 hours 40 minutes) |
| Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 04:40 to 05:40 (1 hour) |
| Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) | Ground Stop Programs | low ceilings | – | 15:40 to 16:20 (40 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | Ground Stop Programs | airport volume | – | 16:00 to 16:20 (20 minutes) |
| Denver International (DEN) | Ground Delay Programs | thunderstorms | 92 min | 00:40 to 22:40 (22 hours) |
| Boston Logan International (BOS) | Ground Delay Programs | wind | 80 min | 00:00 to 03:20 (3 hours 20 minutes) |
| Newark Liberty International (EWR) | Ground Delay Programs | other | 68 min | 00:00 to 00:20 (20 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | Ground Delay Programs | airport volume; VOLUME | 54 min | 01:00 to 22:40 (21 hours 40 minutes) |
| San Francisco International (SFO) | Ground Delay Programs | other | 49 min | 00:20 to 05:00 (4 hours 40 minutes) |
| YUL | Ground Delay Programs | thunderstorms | 46 min | 16:40 to 21:00 (4 hours 20 minutes) |
| Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) | Ground Delay Programs | low ceilings | 34 min | 16:40 to 17:40 (1 hour) |
| Denver International (DEN) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | ZDV / WX:Thunderstorms; WX:Thunderstorms | 91 min | 00:00 to 02:20 (2 hours 20 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Compacted Demand | 61 min | 15:20 to 21:40 (6 hours 20 minutes) |
| San Francisco International (SFO) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | OTHER:Flight Check | 46 min | 18:20 to 21:20 (3 hours) |
Thunderstorms and Volume Were Leading Causes
Thunderstorms were the leading cause driving 40 of the programmes sampled, including the longest ground delay programme at Denver and ground stops at Denver and Phoenix. Airport volume was the second most frequent cause, with 39 programmes citing this factor, notably impacting the extensive delay programme
at San Diego and a brief ground stop there.
Other causes reported included traffic management initiatives related to weather, compacted demand, and runway construction. Low ceilings affected Seattle-Tacoma International, while wind contributed to delays at Boston Logan and Harry Reid International Airport.
Comparison to Previous Day and Weekly Average
Compared with the previous day, delay activity declined. On August 23, 27 airports were affected by 36 delay programmes, marking a decrease of 12 programmes and 12 fewer airports on August 24. The daily number of affected airports and programmes on August 24 also fell below the seven-day average of 19.4 airports and 23 delay programmes. This shows
the day was less disrupted than recent days, although the peak delay at Denver remained significant.
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 66 samples taken between 00:00 and 22:40 UTC on 2026-08-24. 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.
