Air travel across the United States was heavily disrupted as strong surface gusts and turbulence collided with runway construction at several major hubs, producing more than 3,200 delayed flights in a single day, according to operational reports citing Federal Aviation Administration notices.
In the New York area, the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center issued ground stops for incoming flights at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International. LaGuardia recorded 115 delays and eight cancellations, JFK 163 delays and five cancellations, and Newark Liberty absorbed 179 delays and seven cancellations, with inbound delays averaging about 30 minutes and climbing.
The problems were not confined to the East Coast. San Diego International — the busiest single-runway commercial airport in the country — logged 224 delays and 14 cancellations, Seattle-Tacoma was slowed by runway resurfacing, and Miami International's parallel runway construction throttled hourly arrival rates.
For travellers, the practical advice from airlines remains unchanged: check flight status before leaving for the airport, since ground-stop metering can turn a regional weather problem into overnight layovers far from the storm.
