Is there a ground stop at JFK today?
No ground stop at JFK right now (as of 4:54 PM ET, Nov 6), but the FAA reports departure delays of 16 to 30 min, increasing, for weather. In the last 12 months the FAA issued 84 ground stops and 74 ground delay programs for JFK, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 91 days.
Live FAA delay status for John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK, New York, NY): ground stops, ground delay programs and delays right now, what the FAA has listed for JFK recently, and how often flights here actually run late.
No ground stop at JFK right now, but the FAA is reporting arrival or departure delays.
Details are in the FAA delay status card below. Checked Nov 6, 2026 · 2154Z (4:54 PM EST); this page refreshes about every two minutes.
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FAA Delay Status
FAA NAS Status for KJFK
FAA NAS Status is reporting departure delays for John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK).
Updated Nov 6, 2026 · 2133Z (4:33 PM EST) · Source: FAA NAS Status
View all FAA delays → FAA status ↗
Verify with official FAA sources before operational decisions.
Why JFK gets delayed
JFK's four runways come in two parallel pairs, which helps in most winds, but the airport shares the busiest airspace in the country with Newark and LaGuardia. The FAA ran 169 programs for JFK in the 12 months to October 2026, on 95 days. Thunderstorms caused about half, and wind, a bigger factor on Jamaica Bay than inland, caused 15%.
JFK's timing is different from the other New York airports. Its ground stops cluster in the evening, with 40% starting between 5 and 9 PM, when the long-haul international banks overlap. The typical stop lasted 1 h 34 min and the typical ground delay program 5 h 29 min, with an average delay of 116 minutes, one of the highest we track.
The longest program of the year was not weather at all: a 15 h 7 min program on July 4, 2026 that the FAA logged as an air show.
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 JFK delays usually last
Every FAA ground stop and ground delay program for JFK from Nov 6, 2025 to Nov 5, 2026, rebuilt from the FAA Command Center's own advisories.
Ground delay programs
74Ground stops
84Flights to JFK were held by at least one FAA program on 91 days in the last year. 42% of the stops and programs began between 3 PM and 7 PM local time.
What triggered them
JFK ground stops and delay programs by month
| Month | Ground stops | Delay programs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| January 2026 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| February 2026 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| March 2026 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| April 2026 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| May 2026 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| June 2026 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| July 2026 | 17 | 12 | 29 |
| August 2026 | 20 | 13 | 33 |
| September 2026 | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| October 2026 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| November 2026 to dateplus Nov 6-30, 2025 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
The busiest month was August, with 33 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 JFK, rebuilt daily by ATIS Alerts.
Best time of day to fly out of JFK
Airline departures scheduled before 9 AM left on time 89% of the time, against 63% for those scheduled after 9 PM. By weekday, Wednesday was the most reliable (81%) and Sunday the least (73%). BTS on-time data, June 2025 to May 2026; on time = within 15 minutes.
Recent FAA events at JFK
Ground stops and delay programs the FAA has listed for JFK in the last 90 days, from ATIS Alerts' own log of FAA NAS Status.
- Ground StopNov 6, 2026 · 1548Z (10:48 AM EST)lasted 3h 42m · thunderstorms
- Departure DelaysNov 6, 2026 · 1230Z (7:30 AM EST)in effect · tm initiatives:swap:wx · avg delay 15 min
- Ground StopNov 6, 2026 · 1055Z (5:55 AM EST)lasted 5h 5m · thunderstorms
- Departure DelaysOct 18, 2026 · 0125Z (9:25 PM EDT)lasted 1h · vol:compacted demand · avg delay 15 min
- Ground StopOct 17, 2026 · 1920Z (3:20 PM EDT)lasted 1h 56m · wind
- Ground Delay ProgramOct 16, 2026 · 2130Z (5:30 PM EDT)lasted 4h 56m · thunderstorms · avg delay 60 min
- Departure DelaysOct 14, 2026 · 2335Z (7:35 PM EDT)lasted 1h 20m · rwy:construction · avg delay 15 min
- Departure DelaysOct 13, 2026 · 1930Z (3:30 PM EDT)lasted 5h 55m · rwy:construction · avg delay 15 min
- Ground StopOct 11, 2026 · 2355Z (7:55 PM EDT)lasted 56 min · low ceilings
- Ground Delay ProgramOct 11, 2026 · 2000Z (4:00 PM EDT)lasted 7h 41m · low ceilings · avg delay 151 min
- Ground StopOct 11, 2026 · 1914Z (3:14 PM EDT)lasted 37 min · bird strike
- Departure DelaysOct 11, 2026 · 1850Z (2:50 PM EDT)lasted 10h 30m · wx:wind · avg delay 45 min
- Departure DelaysOct 10, 2026 · 2130Z (5:30 PM EDT)lasted 50 min · rwy:construction · avg delay 15 min
- Ground StopOct 8, 2026 · 2155Z (5:55 PM EDT)lasted 1h 20m · wind
- Ground Delay ProgramOct 8, 2026 · 2100Z (5:00 PM EDT)lasted 3h 51m · wind · avg delay 34 min
- Departure DelaysOct 5, 2026 · 2100Z (5:00 PM EDT)lasted 40 min · wx:wind · avg delay 15 min
- Departure DelaysOct 5, 2026 · 0015Z (8:15 PM EDT)lasted 50 min · vol:compacted demand · avg delay 15 min
- Departure DelaysSep 28, 2026 · 0220Z (10:20 PM EDT)lasted 15 min · wx:wind · avg delay 15 min
- Ground Delay ProgramSep 27, 2026 · 2100Z (5:00 PM EDT)lasted 2h 21m · wind · avg delay 52 min
- Departure DelaysSep 27, 2026 · 2030Z (4:30 PM EDT)lasted 3h 10m · wx:wind · avg delay 15 min
- Departure DelaysSep 27, 2026 · 1445Z (10:45 AM EDT)lasted 1h 5m · tm initiatives:swap:wx · avg delay 30 min
- Departure DelaysSep 27, 2026 · 0235Z (10:35 PM EDT)lasted 5 min · wx:wind · avg delay 15 min
- Departure DelaysSep 27, 2026 · 0015Z (8:15 PM EDT)lasted 1h 20m · wx:wind · avg delay 15 min
- Ground Delay ProgramSep 26, 2026 · 2100Z (5:00 PM EDT)lasted 4h 26m · wind · avg delay 50 min
- Departure DelaysSep 26, 2026 · 1930Z (3:30 PM EDT)lasted 3h 50m · wx:wind · avg delay 30 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 JFK delayed?
Airline on-time performance at JFK, Jun 2025 to May 2026, from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
102,800 scheduled airline arrivals and 102,858 departures in the period. Best month: Sep 2025 (85.1% on time); worst: Jul 2025 (67.5%). 32% 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 9,257 arrivals.
What caused the delays
- 35%Late-arriving aircraft
- 32%Airline (crew, maintenance, ground handling)
- 29%National Airspace System (ATC, volume, non-extreme weather)
- 3%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 KJFK right now
Weather drives most ground stops: thunderstorms, low ceilings, wind and snow.
METAR KJFK 062151Z 24003KT 10SM FEW020 SCT048 BKN060 BKN140 16/15 A2982 RMK AO2 RAE48 SLP097 P0023 T01610150
Active FAA events nearby
Other airports in New York with a delay event right now.
JFK ground stop FAQ
Is there a ground stop at JFK today?
No ground stop at JFK right now (as of 4:54 PM ET, Nov 6), but the FAA reports departure delays of 16 to 30 min, increasing, for weather. This page rechecks the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes.
How do I know if JFK 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 John F. Kennedy Intl; green means it does not. The official source is nasstatus.faa.gov.
How many ground stops has JFK had in the last year?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 84 ground stops and 74 ground delay programs for JFK, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 91 days. Source: the FAA Command Center's advisory database (fly.faa.gov).
How long do ground stops at JFK last?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 84 ground stops for JFK. The typical one lasted 1 h 35 min, and the middle half ran 1 h 10 min to 3 h 5 min. Ground delay programs run longer: 74 of them, typically 5 h 10 min with an average delay of 114 minutes.
Does a ground stop mean my flight is cancelled?
No. It means departures to JFK 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.