On August 5, 2026, the FAA held 21 airports in the United States under 28 delay programmes, including ground stops, ground delay programmes, and general arrival and departure delay notifications. Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) was the worst-hit airport, with ground stop programmes lasting over 14 hours and caused by wind and low visibility.
Overview of Delay Programmes and Airport Impact
The 28 programmes included 7 ground stop programmes, 5 ground delay programmes, and 16 general arrival/departure delay information advisories. A ground stop holds departures bound for an airport on the ground at their origin. A ground delay programme meters arrivals by assigning later departure times.
Seattle-Tacoma International’s ground stop lasted 14 hours and 20 minutes, from 03:20 to 17:40 UTC, related to wind and low visibility conditions. While peak delay figures were recorded as zero in the dataset for SEA, this program had the longest duration of all delay programmes on August 5.
Other airports with ground stop programmes included
LaGuardia (LGA) and Philadelphia International (PHL), each with ground stops caused by thunderstorms lasting 1 hour 40 minutes in the evening. Dallas Love Field (DAL) and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) experienced ground stops due to unspecified operational causes lasting under an hour. Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Newark Liberty (EWR) also saw short ground stops related to thunderstorms.
Ground delay programmes were observed at Philadelphia International (PHL) with a peak average delay of 111 minutes and a maximum delay of 687 minutes over 4 hours and 20 minutes, driven by thunderstorms. San Francisco International (SFO) had a 22 hour and 20 minute
ground delay programme caused by low ceilings and other reasons, peaking at 57 average delay minutes and 275 maximum delay minutes. San Diego (SAN) had a ground delay programme lasting 4 hours and 40 minutes due to airport volume with peak average delay of 39 minutes.
| Airport | FAA programme | Cause | Peak average delay | In force (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) | Ground Stop Programs | wind; low visibility | – | 03:20 to 17:40 (14 hours 20 minutes) |
| LaGuardia (LGA) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 20:00 to 21:40 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
| Philadelphia International (PHL) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 20:40 to 22:20 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
| Dallas Love Field (DAL) | Ground Stop Programs | OCL: | – | 15:00 to 15:40 (40 minutes) |
| Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) | Ground Stop Programs | OCL: | – | 15:00 to 15:00 (20 minutes) |
| Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 21:20 to 21:40 (20 minutes) |
| Newark Liberty International (EWR) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 22:00 to 22:20 (20 minutes) |
| Philadelphia International (PHL) | Ground Delay Programs | thunderstorms | 111 min | 18:00 to 22:20 (4 hours 20 minutes) |
| San Francisco International (SFO) | Ground Delay Programs | other; low ceilings | 57 min | 00:00 to 22:20 (22 hours 20 minutes) |
| John F. Kennedy International (JFK) | Ground Delay Programs | thunderstorms | 54 min | 18:40 to 22:20 (3 hours 40 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | Ground Delay Programs | airport volume | 39 min | 14:00 to 18:40 (4 hours 40 minutes) |
| YVR | Ground Delay Programs | other | 37 min | 00:20 to 04:40 (4 hours 20 minutes) |
| Newark Liberty International (EWR) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:SWAP:WX; ZDC / WX:Thunderstorms; WX:Thunderstorms | 121 min | 12:40 to 22:20 (9 hours 40 minutes) |
| John F. Kennedy International (JFK) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:MIT:VOL; TM Initiatives:SWAP:WX | 106 min | 00:20 to 22:20 (22 hours) |
Thunderstorms and Weather-Related Factors Drove Most Delays
The primary causes of delay programmes on August 5 were weather-related. The category “TM Initiatives:SWAP:WX” accounted for 91 programmes, while “thunderstorms” were cited 42 times. Other significant causes included low ceilings (23 programmes) and runway construction (19 programmes).
Ground stops were predominantly triggered by thunderstorms at airports including LGA, PHL, ORD, EWR, and others.
Weather also played a major role in general arrival and departure delay information, especially at JFK, LGA, PHL, and EWR, where traffic management initiatives accounted for delays caused by weather and volume management.
Some airports faced other operational factors such as airport volume at San Diego and wake turbulence with thunderstorms at Chicago O’Hare.
Comparison with Previous Day and Recent Averages
Compared with the previous day, August 4, 2026, there were 6 more airports affected by delay programmes (21 versus 15) and 6 more programmes in total (28 versus 22). Against the recent 7-day average of approximately 21 airports affected, today’s figure of 21 airports aligns closely
but does not represent the worst in the observation window.
This shows a slight increase in the number of airports under delay programmes compared to yesterday but is consistent with typical recent patterns.
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 65 samples taken between 00:00 and 22:20 UTC on 2026-08-05. 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.
