On August 28, 2026, the FAA held 25 airports in the United States under delay programmes with a total of 40 active programmes. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) was the worst hit, experiencing a peak average delay of 320 minutes and a maximum delay reaching 1125 minutes.
Delay Programmes Across 25 Airports
The FAA implemented 11 Ground Stop programmes, 9 Ground Delay programmes, and 20 General Arrival/Departure Delay Information advisories on this date. A ground stop holds departures bound for an airport on the ground at their origin, while a ground delay programme meters arrivals by assigning later departure times.
JFK endured the longest Ground Stop programme, active for 16 hours and 20 minutes from 00:40 to 17:00 UTC due to thunderstorms. Although this Ground Stop showed no reported peak delay minutes, a concurrent Ground Delay programme at JFK from 00:00 to 01:40 UTC recorded a peak average delay of 191 minutes
and a peak maximum delay of 576 minutes.
San Diego International (SAN) had the longest duration Ground Delay programme, spanning 22 hours and 40 minutes, linked to airport volume. It registered a peak average delay of 61 minutes and a maximum delay of 377 minutes.
Other notable Ground Delay programmes included Newark Liberty International (EWR) with delays caused by thunderstorms, a foreground peak average of 320 minutes and maximum delay of 1125 minutes over 5 hours and 20 minutes. Harry Reid International (LAS) had a programme lasting 4 hours due to a disabled aircraft on the runway, with peak average
delay of 41 minutes and peak max delay of 257 minutes.
General Arrival/Departure Delay advisories were in effect at airports like TEB, EWR, and LaGuardia (LGA) primarily due to traffic management initiatives related to weather conditions, lasting up to 22 hours and 40 minutes in the case of LGA.
| Airport | FAA programme | Cause | Peak average delay | In force (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy International (JFK) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 00:40 to 17:00 (16 hours 20 minutes) |
| Philadelphia International (PHL) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 00:00 to 03:00 (3 hours) |
| TEB | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 00:00 to 03:00 (3 hours) |
| LaGuardia (LGA) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 00:00 to 02:40 (2 hours 40 minutes) |
| Newark Liberty International (EWR) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 00:00 to 02:20 (2 hours 20 minutes) |
| Charlotte Douglas International (CLT) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 20:40 to 22:20 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
| George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms; tornado or hurricane | – | 21:00 to 22:40 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
| Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 00:00 to 01:00 (1 hour) |
| Orlando International (MCO) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 17:00 to 17:40 (40 minutes) |
| Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 19:00 to 19:00 (20 minutes) |
| William P. Hobby (HOU) | Ground Stop Programs | thunderstorms | – | 21:00 to 21:20 (20 minutes) |
| Newark Liberty International (EWR) | Ground Delay Programs | thunderstorms | 320 min | 00:00 to 05:20 (5 hours 20 minutes) |
| John F. Kennedy International (JFK) | Ground Delay Programs | thunderstorms | 191 min | 00:00 to 01:40 (1 hour 40 minutes) |
| LaGuardia (LGA) | Ground Delay Programs | thunderstorms | 141 min | 00:00 to 02:40 (2 hours 40 minutes) |
Other airports under Ground Stop programmes mainly saw disruptions from thunderstorms, including Philadelphia (PHL), LaGuardia (LGA), Newark (EWR), Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA), Charlotte (CLT), Orlando (MCO), and others. These Ground Stops ranged from 20 minutes at Atlanta (ATL) to 3 hours at Teterboro (TEB) and Philadelphia (PHL).
Thunderstorms Driving the Majority of Programmes
The leading cause driving delay programmes was thunderstorms, cited in 109 programme samples across various airport programmes. Weather-related traffic management initiatives, including TM Initiatives:SWAP:WX and TM Initiatives:MIT:WX, appeared 74 and 55 times respectively.
Other frequent causes included airport volume, responsible for 43 programmes, and runway construction and disabled aircraft causing delays
at specific airports such as YUL and LAS. Notably, George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) was affected by thunderstorms combined with tornado or hurricane conditions during its Ground Stop.
Comparison with Previous Day and Weekly Averages
Compared with the previous day, the number of affected airports increased slightly by one, from 24 to 25. However, the total number of programmes decreased marginally from 42 to 40. The daily affected airport count remains above the recent seven-day average of 19.3 airports. This day was not the worst in the weekly window tracked.
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 2026-08-28. 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.
