On July 25, 2026, the FAA held 12 airports across the United States under a total of 13 delay programs. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) recorded the highest peak delay with a maximum of 143 minutes during a two-hour ground delay program. Overall peak average delay across all programs reached 83 minutes.
Details of Affected Airports and Delay Programs
Twelve US airports experienced FAA delay programs on July 25. These included the major hubs Atlanta (ATL), Denver (DEN), Newark (EWR), John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA), Miami (MIA), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Philadelphia (PHL), San Diego (SAN), Seattle-Tacoma (SEA), San Francisco (SFO), and Teterboro (TEB).
Delay programs were categorized into three types: 3 Ground Stop Programs, which hold departures bound for an airport at their origin; 2 Ground Delay Programs, which meter arrivals by assigning later departure times; and 8 programs classified as General Arrival/Departure Delay Information.
San Francisco International (SFO) had two different programs during the day: a ground
delay program lasting nearly 19 hours with a peak average delay of 50 minutes and a ground stop program lasting one hour. Newark Liberty (EWR) also had a two-hour ground delay program with the highest peak delay of 143 minutes.
Other airports with ground stop programs included Atlanta (ATL), which faced a 40-minute stop due to thunderstorms, and Denver (DEN), which had a 20-minute ground stop for the same cause. General arrival/departure delay info covered airports like Miami (MIA) with runway construction delays, Chicago O’Hare (ORD) with staffing issues, and San Diego (SAN) with compacted demand.
| Airport | FAA programme | Cause | Peak average delay | In force (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco International (SFO) | Ground Stop Programs | other | – | 04:20 to 05:20 (1 hour) |
| Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 18:40 to 19:20 (40 minutes) |
| Denver International (DEN) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 22:00 to 22:00 (20 minutes) |
| Newark Liberty International (EWR) | Ground Delay Programs | other | 83 min | 20:00 to 22:00 (2 hours) |
| San Francisco International (SFO) | Ground Delay Programs | other | 50 min | 00:00 to 18:40 (18 hours 40 minutes) |
| TEB | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:Metering:VOL | 31 min | 14:20 to 15:20 (1 hour) |
| Miami International (MIA) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | RWY:Construction | 31 min | 14:40 to 15:40 (1 hour) |
| Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | ZAU / STAFF:Staffing; ZAU / OTHER:C90 STAFFING | 31 min | 13:40 to 14:20 (40 minutes) |
| LaGuardia (LGA) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | RWY:Maintenance | 31 min | 21:40 to 22:00 (20 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Compacted Demand | 16 min | 01:20 to 04:00 (2 hours 40 minutes) |
| Philadelphia International (PHL) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:MIT:VOL | 16 min | 16:00 to 16:20 (20 minutes) |
| Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Compacted Demand | 16 min | 21:20 to 21:40 (20 minutes) |
| John F. Kennedy International (JFK) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Compacted Demand | 15 min | 00:00 to 04:00 (4 hours) |
Top Causes Behind Delay Programs
The FAA cited several
reasons behind delay programs on July 25. The leading cause was classified as “other,” accounting for 41 of the program samples. Compacted demand in volumes was the next most common driver, responsible for 24 programs. Thunderstorms and runway construction were also frequent, each linked to 4 programs. Metering and voluntary traffic management initiatives accounted for 4 programs as well.
Specifically, weather-related issues such as thunderstorms affected Atlanta and Denver ground stop programs. Runway maintenance and construction influenced delays at Miami and LaGuardia (LGA). Staffing shortages at Chicago O’Hare were noted as a cause for general delay information programs.
Comparison With Previous Days and Weekly Average
Compared with
the previous day, July 24, which saw 15 affected airports and 22 delay programs, July 25 recorded a decrease of 3 programs and affected 3 fewer airports. The seven-day average leading up to July 25 had 20.1 airports affected daily, indicating that the current day experienced fewer delays than the weekly average. July 25 was not the worst day in the FAA delay 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 61 samples taken between 00:00 and 22:00 UTC
on 2026-07-25. 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.
