Is there a ground stop at IAD today?
No ground stop at IAD right now (as of 8:49 PM ET, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Washington Dulles International Airport. In the last 12 months the FAA issued 57 ground stops and 5 ground delay programs for IAD, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 48 days.
Live FAA delay status for Washington Dulles International Airport (KIAD, Dulles, VA): ground stops, ground delay programs and delays right now, what the FAA has listed for IAD recently, and how often flights here actually run late.
No: the FAA is not reporting a ground stop at IAD right now.
FAA NAS Status lists no ground stop, ground delay program, or delay event for Washington Dulles Intl. Checked Nov 7, 2026 · 0149Z (8:49 PM EST); this page refreshes about every two minutes.
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Why IAD gets delayed
Dulles is the calm one of Washington's three airports. The FAA ran 62 programs for IAD in the 12 months to October 2026, against 193 at Reagan National, and Dulles posted 82.6% on-time departures in BTS data, the best of the three.
Nearly all of its FAA trouble is summer thunderstorms (61%) and wind (27%). The storms can be stubborn: the typical ground stop lasted 1 h 33 min, but the worst storm days of 2026 produced stops of 9 h 56 min on July 21 and 7 h 31 min on May 20. Ground delay programs are rare, six all year, and five of the six were for wind.
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 IAD delays usually last
Every FAA ground stop and ground delay program for IAD from Nov 6, 2025 to Nov 5, 2026, rebuilt from the FAA Command Center's own advisories.
Ground delay programs
5Ground stops
57Flights to IAD were held by at least one FAA program on 48 days in the last year. 63% of the stops and programs began between 1 PM and 5 PM local time.
What triggered them
IAD ground stops and delay programs by month
| Month | Ground stops | Delay programs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| January 2026 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| February 2026 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| March 2026 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| April 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| May 2026 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| June 2026 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| July 2026 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| August 2026 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| September 2026 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| October 2026 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| November 2026 to dateplus Nov 6-30, 2025 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
The busiest month was July, with 12 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 IAD, rebuilt daily by ATIS Alerts.
Best time of day to fly out of IAD
Airline departures scheduled before 9 AM left on time 91% of the time, against 70% for those scheduled 6 to 9 PM. By weekday, Tuesday was the most reliable (86%) and Sunday the least (80%). BTS on-time data, June 2025 to May 2026; on time = within 15 minutes.
Recent FAA events at IAD
Ground stops and delay programs the FAA has listed for IAD in the last 90 days, from ATIS Alerts' own log of FAA NAS Status.
- Ground StopOct 24, 2026 · 1926Z (3:26 PM EDT)lasted 49 min · vip
- Departure DelaysOct 16, 2026 · 2210Z (6:10 PM EDT)lasted 5h 55m · wx:thunderstorms · avg delay 30 min
- Ground StopOct 16, 2026 · 2152Z (5:52 PM EDT)lasted 1h 23m · thunderstorms
- Departure DelaysOct 2, 2026 · 2220Z (6:20 PM EDT)lasted 4h 35m · wx:thunderstorms · avg delay 45 min
- Ground StopSep 26, 2026 · 1821Z (2:21 PM EDT)lasted 1h 5m · air show
- Ground StopSep 23, 2026 · 1430Z (10:30 AM EDT)lasted 46 min · runway construction
- Departure DelaysSep 21, 2026 · 1941Z (3:41 PM EDT)lasted 2h 17m · tm initiatives:swap:wx · avg delay 23 min
- Ground StopSep 17, 2026 · 1808Z (2:08 PM EDT)lasted 52 min · thunderstorms
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 IAD delayed?
Airline on-time performance at IAD, Jun 2025 to May 2026, from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
57,906 scheduled airline arrivals and 58,239 departures in the period. Best month: Apr 2026 (88.9% on time); worst: Jul 2025 (71.2%). 26% 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 5,449 arrivals.
What caused the delays
- 40%Late-arriving aircraft
- 34%Airline (crew, maintenance, ground handling)
- 21%National Airspace System (ATC, volume, non-extreme weather)
- 5%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 KIAD right now
Weather drives most ground stops: thunderstorms, low ceilings, wind and snow.
METAR KIAD 070052Z 25003KT 10SM SCT065 BKN080 15/13 A2988 RMK AO2 SLP118 T01500128
IAD ground stop FAQ
Is there a ground stop at IAD today?
No ground stop at IAD right now (as of 8:49 PM ET, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Washington Dulles International Airport. This page rechecks the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes.
How do I know if IAD 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 Washington Dulles Intl; green means it does not. The official source is nasstatus.faa.gov.
How many ground stops has IAD had in the last year?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 57 ground stops and 5 ground delay programs for IAD, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 48 days. Source: the FAA Command Center's advisory database (fly.faa.gov).
How long do ground stops at IAD last?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 57 ground stops for IAD. The typical one lasted 1 h 28 min, and the middle half ran 1 h 10 min to 3 h 15 min. Ground delay programs run longer: 5 of them, typically 1 h 37 min with an average delay of 77 minutes.
Does a ground stop mean my flight is cancelled?
No. It means departures to IAD 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.