On October 13, 2026, the FAA held 12 US airports under 18 delay programs, with Denver International Airport (DEN) the worst hit, experiencing a peak maximum delay of 584 minutes. These figures are based on data tracked by travelandtournews.com from the FAA’s National Airspace System status feed sampled throughout the day.
Airports and Delay Programs Details
Among the 12 affected airports were major hubs like Denver International (DEN), Boston Logan International (BOS), LaGuardia (LGA), and smaller airports such as SDL. The FAA implemented six Ground Stop Programs, six Ground Delay Programs, and six General Arrival/Departure Delay Info notices over the day.
A ground stop holds departures bound for an airport on the ground at their origin, while a ground delay program meters arrivals by assigning later departure times to reduce congestion.
Denver International was subject to both ground stop and ground delay programs related to runway construction. The ground stop at DEN lasted 40 minutes from
00:20 to 01:00 UTC, while the ground delay program spanned 2 hours and 40 minutes starting at midnight, with delays reaching a peak average of 56 minutes and peak maximum of 104 minutes.
Boston Logan operated under a ground delay program due to low ceilings for 10 hours, from 12:40 to 22:40 UTC. This programme recorded the highest average delay of 206 minutes and a peak maximum delay of 413 minutes.
San Diego International (SAN) experienced a 3-hour and 40-minute ground delay program caused by airport volume, generating delays up to 110 minutes at peak. Meanwhile, Phoenix Sky Harbor International
(PHX) and SDL faced ground stop programs due to low ceilings lasting 20 and 40 minutes respectively.
Other ground stop programs at LaGuardia (LGA), Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA), and Raleigh-Durham International (RDU) were due to airport volume and equipment outages, each lasting 20 minutes or less.
| Airport | FAA programme | Cause | Peak average delay | In force (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver International (DEN) | Ground Stop Programs | runway construction | – | 00:20 to 01:00 (40 minutes) |
| SDL | Ground Stop Programs | low ceilings | – | 19:00 to 19:40 (40 minutes) |
| Raleigh-Durham International (RDU) | Ground Stop Programs | equipment outage | – | 00:00 to 00:00 (20 minutes) |
| LaGuardia (LGA) | Ground Stop Programs | airport volume | – | 00:00 to 00:00 (20 minutes) |
| Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) | Ground Stop Programs | low ceilings | – | 14:00 to 14:20 (20 minutes) |
| Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA) | Ground Stop Programs | equipment outage | – | 20:40 to 20:40 (20 minutes) |
| Boston Logan International (BOS) | Ground Delay Programs | low ceilings | 206 min | 12:40 to 22:40 (10 hours) |
| Raleigh-Durham International (RDU) | Ground Delay Programs | equipment outage | 189 min | 00:20 to 00:40 (20 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | Ground Delay Programs | airport volume | 58 min | 00:00 to 03:40 (3 hours 40 minutes) |
| Denver International (DEN) | Ground Delay Programs | runway construction | 56 min | 00:00 to 02:40 (2 hours 40 minutes) |
| Harry Reid International (LAS) | Ground Delay Programs | wind | 55 min | 00:00 to 02:40 (2 hours 40 minutes) |
| BHM | Ground Delay Programs | equipment outage | 8 min | 05:40 to 06:00 (20 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Compacted Demand; VOL:Volume | 31 min | 00:00 to 19:00 (19 hours) |
| Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | WX:Low Ceilings; TM Initiatives:MIT:VOL | 31 min | 16:20 to 19:20 (3 hours) |
Delay Causes and Distribution
The leading cause of delays on October 13 was low ceilings, cited in 36 instances across various programs. This factor drove multiple ground stops and delay programs, notably at Boston Logan, Phoenix Sky Harbor, and SDL.
Compacted demand and airport volume were next in frequency, with 27 and 13 mentions respectively, affecting airports
like San Diego International and LaGuardia. Runway construction was also a significant factor, responsible for 25 program mentions at Denver International and Miami International.
Other causes included equipment outages at Raleigh-Durham, Miami, and Birmingham, and wind-related issues at Harry Reid International and LaGuardia.
Comparison to Previous Day and Weekly Average
Compared with the previous day, the number of airports affected decreased by five, from 17 to 12. The total number of FAA delay programs also dropped significantly, from 32 to 18. When compared to the seven-day average, which records 15.4 airports affected, October 13’s total is below average. This day was not the worst in the 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 66 samples taken between 00:00 and 22:40 UTC on 2026-10-13. 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.
