On October 18, 2026, the FAA held 13 airports in the United States under 16 delay programs, according to data tracked by travelandtournews.com from the FAA National Airspace System status feed. Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) was the most affected, experiencing delay programs related to an aircraft emergency with peak maximum delays reaching 195 minutes.
Overview of Delay Programs and Airports Affected
Thirteen airports were affected: AUS, BOS, EWR, JFK, LAS, LGA, MIA, PHX, SAN, SNA, TEB, YUL, and YVR. The FAA established one ground stop program, six ground delay programs, one airport closure, and eight general arrival/departure delay informational programs throughout the day.
A ground stop holds departures at their origination airports to prevent arrivals at the affected airport; a ground delay program meters arrivals by assigning later departure times.
The longest-running program was a ground delay program at San Diego International (SAN) related to airport volume, lasting 19 hours and 40 minutes with a peak average delay of 53 minutes
and a peak maximum delay of 110 minutes. Austin’s airport (AUS) experienced a six-hour and 40-minute ground delay due to runway construction, peaking at 39 average delay minutes and 132 maximum delay minutes.
Harry Reid International (LAS) had an 80-minute ground stop program due to an aircraft emergency, followed by a 2 hour and 20 minute ground delay program caused by the same reason. Although the ground stop recorded no average or maximum delay minutes, the subsequent ground delay program peaked at 70 average delay minutes and a 195-minute maximum delay.
| Airport | FAA programme | Cause | Peak average delay | In force (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Reid International (LAS) | Ground Stop Programs | aircraft emergency | – | 18:20 to 19:40 (1 hour 20 minutes) |
| Harry Reid International (LAS) | Ground Delay Programs | aircraft emergency | 70 min | 20:00 to 22:20 (2 hours 20 minutes) |
| Newark Liberty International (EWR) | Ground Delay Programs | other | 67 min | 00:00 to 02:40 (2 hours 40 minutes) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | Ground Delay Programs | airport volume | 53 min | 00:00 to 19:40 (19 hours 40 minutes) |
| AUS | Ground Delay Programs | runway construction | 39 min | 15:00 to 21:40 (6 hours 40 minutes) |
| YUL | Ground Delay Programs | other | 20 min | 17:00 to 22:20 (5 hours 20 minutes) |
| YVR | Ground Delay Programs | equipment outage | 18 min | 00:00 to 04:00 (4 hours) |
| San Diego International (SAN) | Airport Closures | airport closed | – | 08:20 to 12:40 (4 hours 20 minutes) |
| TEB | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | STAFF:Staffing | 76 min | 13:20 to 19:40 (6 hours 20 minutes) |
| SNA | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Compacted Demand | 61 min | 19:40 to 21:00 (1 hour 20 minutes) |
| Miami International (MIA) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:MIT:WX | 31 min | 00:00 to 02:00 (2 hours) |
| LaGuardia (LGA) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | TM Initiatives:SWAP:WX | 31 min | 00:00 to 01:20 (1 hour 20 minutes) |
| Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | VOL:Multi-taxi | 16 min | 16:20 to 18:00 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
| Harry Reid International (LAS) | General Arrival/Departure Delay Info | RWY:Disabled Aircraft | 16 min | 18:20 to 20:00 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
Program Causes: Staffing, Emergencies and Airport Volume
The FAA attributed 26 programs to “other” unspecified reasons,
21 to airport volume, and 21 to runway construction delays. Staffing issues were cited in 20 programs and airport closures in 14 programs.
Notably, aircraft emergencies affected Harry Reid International airport twice, once with a ground stop and again with a ground delay program. San Diego’s closure lasting over four hours also contributed to delay counts. Staffing shortages caused significant delay informational programs at Teterboro (TEB) lasting over six hours.
Trends Compared to Previous Days
Compared to October 17, 2026, the number of airports under delay programs dropped from 19 to 13 and the total number of delay programs decreased from 33 to 16. The
current day’s impact was below the recent 7-day average of 17.4 airports affected and 22.1 programs, with no record highs recorded on October 18.
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 2026-10-18. 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.
