Wind Stops Inbound Flights at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia; Delays Reach 120 Minutes

Strong winds and reports of severe turbulence prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to impose ground stops at John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia airports on Saturday, October 17. The restrictions held selected inbound aircraft at their origin airports, with some flights assigned delays of up to 120 minutes.

All three stops ended later Saturday, but the disruption did not end with them. Newark remained subject to additional traffic-management restrictions into the evening, while airlines faced the task of restoring aircraft and crew schedules across one of the country’s most interconnected airport systems.

JFK experienced the longest interruption. Its ground stop began at approximately 3:33 p.m. Eastern Time and was initially scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. After an extension, the restriction was lifted at 5:11 p.m. Its total duration was 98 minutes. Weather observations during the disruption recorded northerly gusts of approximately 26 to 27 knots.

FAA advisories assigned some flights affected by the JFK restriction delays of as much as 120 minutes. That was a traffic-management assignment rather than the actual delay for every passenger. A traveler’s final arrival time also depends on factors including the aircraft’s release time, its place in the departure sequence, crew availability and whether a late arrival disrupts a later flight.

Newark’s ground stop began at approximately 3:45 p.m., shortly after gusts reached 32 knots. A separate ground-delay program for incoming traffic initially showed average assigned delays of 82 minutes. Unlike a stop, which prevents covered aircraft from departing without authorization, a ground-delay program meters flights toward an airport at a reduced rate. Newark continued operating under additional restrictions after its ground stop ended.

LaGuardia’s stop began at approximately 3:46 p.m. and ended at 4:24 p.m., a period of 38 minutes. It covered selected flights departing from airports within the Washington air traffic control center’s area. The limited geographic scope illustrates how a ground stop can be tailored to particular traffic flows rather than closing an airport or halting every flight bound for it.

Why aircraft are held before departure

A ground stop moves waiting time away from already-constrained destination airspace. Under the FAA’s traffic-management procedures, covered aircraft must remain on the ground until the authority that initiated the stop approves their release. The measure can be used when severe weather eliminates routings, airport capacity falls sharply or airborne holding could push a sector toward saturation.

Wind affects more than the comfort of an approach. Direction and speed help determine which runways can be used, while turbulence can restrict the routes through which controllers normally feed arrivals. When fewer routes or runway configurations remain practical, the safe arrival rate can fall below the number of aircraft scheduled to enter the area.

That constraint is especially consequential around New York. The FAA describes the New York-New Jersey metropolitan airspace as the country’s most complex and congested, with JFK, Newark, LaGuardia and Teterboro operating close together. Runway use at one airport can influence traffic flows at another because controllers must maintain required separation between crossing arrival and departure paths.

Holding aircraft at their departure points prevents the reduced arrival network from filling with more airplanes than controllers and airports can safely process. It also limits prolonged airborne holding, which consumes fuel and can eventually force diversions. The operational cost is transferred to gates and departure queues around the wider airline network.

Why delays remain after a stop ends

Canceling a ground stop authorizes traffic to begin moving again; it does not instantly restore the original schedule. Aircraft accumulated at multiple origin airports must be released into a controlled sequence. Flights already operating late may arrive after their planned gates have been reassigned, while crews can approach duty-time limits or miss their next scheduled aircraft.

An aircraft arriving late can then carry that delay into its next flight. The FAA defines propagated delay as a sequence in which an aircraft arrives late, departs late on its next stage and reaches the following destination late. In a tightly scheduled network, a relatively short weather restriction can therefore affect passengers far from the airport where it began.

The simultaneous stops at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia followed another round of weather-related delays across the northeastern United States on Friday. By Saturday evening, the formal ground stops had ended, but Newark’s continuing restrictions and the need to reposition aircraft and crews left the metropolitan network with a recovery problem that could outlast the wind event itself.

By Thomas Caldwell — AMI’s senior editor for mechanical and mobility engineering, covering vehicle electronics, systems integration, electrification, chassis systems, propulsion, and safety policy.