Is there a ground stop at DCA today?
No ground stop at DCA right now (as of 4:52 PM ET, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. In the last 12 months the FAA issued 102 ground stops and 84 ground delay programs for DCA, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 113 days.
Live FAA delay status for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA, Washington, DC): ground stops, ground delay programs and delays right now, what the FAA has listed for DCA recently, and how often flights here actually run late.
No: the FAA is not reporting a ground stop at DCA right now.
FAA NAS Status lists no ground stop, ground delay program, or delay event for Ronald Reagan Washington National. Checked Nov 6, 2026 · 2152Z (4:52 PM EST); this page refreshes about every two minutes.
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Why DCA gets delayed
Reagan National runs almost everything on one main runway, 1/19, inside some of the most tightly controlled airspace in the country, so it has very little slack. The FAA ran 92 ground delay programs and 101 ground stops for DCA in the 12 months to October 2026, touching 118 days. The programs are long: the typical GDP lasted 7 h 20 min, among the longest of any airport we track.
The causes are a Washington mix. Thunderstorms led (35%), but low clouds, controller staffing, snow and ice all showed up, and security and special events together triggered about one program in ten, a cause you rarely see elsewhere. Staffing produced 16 of the year's ground delay programs, including a 14 h 35 min program on November 6, 2025, during the federal government shutdown.
Written by the ATIS Alerts team from FAA Command Center advisories (October 2025 to October 2026), BTS airline on-time data (June 2025 to May 2026) and 20 years of hourly weather observations. Updated October 2026.
How long DCA delays usually last
Every FAA ground stop and ground delay program for DCA from Nov 6, 2025 to Nov 5, 2026, rebuilt from the FAA Command Center's own advisories.
Ground delay programs
84Ground stops
102Flights to DCA were held by at least one FAA program on 113 days in the last year. 48% of the stops and programs began between noon and 4 PM local time.
What triggered them
DCA ground stops and delay programs by month
| Month | Ground stops | Delay programs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| January 2026 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| February 2026 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| March 2026 | 9 | 11 | 20 |
| April 2026 | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| May 2026 | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| June 2026 | 12 | 9 | 21 |
| July 2026 | 16 | 12 | 28 |
| August 2026 | 13 | 12 | 25 |
| September 2026 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| October 2026 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| November 2026 to dateplus Nov 6-30, 2025 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
The busiest month was July, with 28 ground stops and delay programs combined.
Source: FAA ATCSCC advisory database (fly.faa.gov), every ground stop and ground delay program advisory the FAA Command Center issued for DCA, rebuilt daily by ATIS Alerts.
Best time of day to fly out of DCA
Airline departures scheduled before 9 AM left on time 89% of the time, against 62% for those scheduled after 9 PM. By weekday, Saturday was the most reliable (79%) and Sunday the least (70%). BTS on-time data, June 2025 to May 2026; on time = within 15 minutes.
Recent FAA events at DCA
Ground stops and delay programs the FAA has listed for DCA in the last 90 days, from ATIS Alerts' own log of FAA NAS Status.
- Departure DelaysNov 6, 2026 · 2125Z (4:25 PM EST)lasted 10 min · tm initiatives:swap:wx · avg delay 60 min
- Departure DelaysNov 6, 2026 · 1605Z (11:05 AM EST)lasted 5h 15m · tm initiatives:swap:wx · avg delay 45 min
- Departure DelaysNov 6, 2026 · 1315Z (8:15 AM EST)lasted 5 min · wx:thunderstorms · avg delay 30 min
- Departure DelaysNov 6, 2026 · 1250Z (7:50 AM EST)lasted 20 min · wx:thunderstorms · avg delay 30 min
- Departure DelaysNov 1, 2026 · 2315Z (6:15 PM EST)lasted 25 min · tm initiatives:esp:vol · avg delay 30 min
- Ground StopOct 30, 2026 · 0006Z (8:06 PM EDT)lasted 1h 9m · security
- Departure DelaysOct 29, 2026 · 2345Z (7:45 PM EDT)lasted 6h 30m · vol:compacted demand · avg delay 15 min
- Departure DelaysOct 29, 2026 · 2215Z (6:15 PM EDT)lasted 1h 15m · vipm: vip p56 flyover · avg delay 15 min
- Ground StopOct 29, 2026 · 2045Z (4:45 PM EDT)lasted 1h · other
- Departure DelaysOct 28, 2026 · 1445Z (10:45 AM EDT)lasted 1h · tm initiatives:mit:eq · avg delay 15 min
- Ground StopOct 22, 2026 · 2105Z (5:05 PM EDT)lasted 51 min · equipment outage
- Departure DelaysOct 22, 2026 · 1955Z (3:55 PM EDT)lasted 2h 25m · eq:ocl: equipment · avg delay 90 min
- Ground StopOct 19, 2026 · 1936Z (3:36 PM EDT)lasted 54 min · vip
- Ground StopOct 16, 2026 · 2154Z (5:54 PM EDT)lasted 3h 6m · thunderstorms
- Ground Delay ProgramOct 16, 2026 · 1215Z (8:15 AM EDT)lasted 15h 44m · thunderstorms · avg delay 211 min
- Departure DelaysOct 14, 2026 · 1315Z (9:15 AM EDT)lasted 45 min · vipm:vip movement · avg delay 15 min
- Ground StopOct 13, 2026 · 2018Z (4:18 PM EDT)lasted 38 min · equipment outage
- Departure DelaysOct 12, 2026 · 1845Z (2:45 PM EDT)lasted 25 min · tm initiatives:esp:vol · avg delay 60 min
- Departure DelaysOct 11, 2026 · 1900Z (3:00 PM EDT)lasted 6h 5m · wx:low ceilings · avg delay 15 min
- Ground Delay ProgramOct 11, 2026 · 1833Z (2:33 PM EDT)lasted 8h 18m · low ceilings · avg delay 33 min
- Ground StopOct 11, 2026 · 1807Z (2:07 PM EDT)lasted 44 min · low ceilings
- Ground StopOct 9, 2026 · 2312Z (7:12 PM EDT)lasted 29 min · other
- Arrival DelaysOct 9, 2026 · 2240Z (6:40 PM EDT)lasted 5 min · pct / other:air show · avg delay 15 min
- Departure DelaysOct 9, 2026 · 2120Z (5:20 PM EDT)lasted 1h 5m · vipm:vip movement · avg delay 15 min
- Departure DelaysOct 6, 2026 · 2215Z (6:15 PM EDT)lasted 25 min · tm initiatives:esp:vol · avg delay 15 min
Durations are the time the FAA kept the event listed. Log complete from 2026-09-22; older rows are the last event of each type seen by the ATIS Alerts bot since 2026-07-22.
How often is DCA delayed?
Airline on-time performance at DCA, Jun 2025 to May 2026, from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
142,220 scheduled airline arrivals and 142,187 departures in the period. Best month: Sep 2025 (77.1% on time); worst: Mar 2026 (66.1%). 33% of arrival delay minutes were charged to weather or the National Airspace System, the categories a ground stop or ground delay program falls under.
On-time arrivals by month
Bar = share of arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule; largest month had 12,298 arrivals.
What caused the delays
- 41%Late-arriving aircraft
- 27%National Airspace System (ATC, volume, non-extreme weather)
- 26%Airline (crew, maintenance, ground handling)
- 6%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
Shares of delay minutes on arrivals 15+ minutes late, as reported by the carriers to the DOT.
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline On-Time Performance (reporting carriers; regional, cargo, and general aviation flights are not included). Published about two months after each month ends.
Weather at KDCA right now
Weather drives most ground stops: thunderstorms, low ceilings, wind and snow.
METAR KDCA 062052Z 16005KT 10SM -RA SCT065 BKN110 17/14 A2983 RMK AO2 SLP101 P0001 60001 T01670144 56014
DCA ground stop FAQ
Is there a ground stop at DCA today?
No ground stop at DCA right now (as of 4:52 PM ET, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. This page rechecks the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes.
How do I know if DCA has a ground stop right now?
The banner at the top of this page reads the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes. A red banner means the FAA currently lists a ground stop for Ronald Reagan Washington National; green means it does not. The official source is nasstatus.faa.gov.
How many ground stops has DCA had in the last year?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 102 ground stops and 84 ground delay programs for DCA, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 113 days. Source: the FAA Command Center's advisory database (fly.faa.gov).
How long do ground stops at DCA last?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 102 ground stops for DCA. The typical one lasted 1 h 29 min, and the middle half ran 1 h 5 min to 3 h 2 min. Ground delay programs run longer: 84 of them, typically 7 h 25 min with an average delay of 53 minutes.
Does a ground stop mean my flight is cancelled?
No. It means departures to DCA are held, not cancelled. Airlines cancel on their own when the backlog cannot be recovered, so watch your carrier's updates alongside this page.
⚠️ Informational only. FAA NAS Status is the authoritative source for delay programs; your airline or dispatch governs your flight. ATIS Alerts is not affiliated with the FAA.