Flight Delays and Airport Impacts: November 14, 2025

Published on Nov 14, 2025, 9:25 am CST

8 min read

Key points

Flight cuts at 40 high impact airports remain fixed at 6 percent as the system recovers from the shutdown
By 8:15 a.m. ET, FlightAware reported 608 cancellations and 517 delays within, into, or out of the United States
Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta, Newark, Dallas Fort Worth, and Seattle Tacoma are leading early cancellation counts
Gusty winds in the Northeast and low clouds in California and Texas could trigger afternoon ground delay programs
Runway and taxiway construction at major hubs adds friction to already constrained schedules

Impact

Build Extra Connection Buffer: Plan at least 90 minutes, and ideally two hours, for connections through the 40 capped airports so a late inbound is less likely to break your itinerary
Favor Morning Departures: Shift to earlier flights from hubs like Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta, Newark, Dallas Fort Worth, and Seattle Tacoma to maximize same day recovery options if your first leg slips
Watch Northeast And California Hubs: Expect possible ground stops or ground delay programs this afternoon at New York area airports, Boston Logan, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego, Austin, and Washington National and route away if you have flexibility
Allow More Time At The Airport: Arrive earlier than usual at busy hubs, since longer lines at check in, security, and rebooking counters are likely while cancellations remain elevated
Monitor Airline And FAA Tools: Use your airline app, text alerts, and the FAA status pages to track changing ground delay programs and rebook quickly if your flight is cut

Airline operations across the United States are still in a high friction mode this morning. Although the record long government shutdown has formally ended and controller staffing is slowly improving, the Federal Aviation Administration's emergency cap on flights at 40 high impact airports remains set at a six percent reduction instead of rising to the originally planned ten percent. Early data from FlightAware shows hundreds of cancellations concentrated at a familiar group of big hubs, while the FAA's command center is already warning about gusty winds in the Northeast and low clouds in California and Texas that could trigger afternoon ground delay programs.

In practical terms, that means travelers flying today are still dealing with a system that has less slack than normal, where small weather issues or staffing pockets can quickly snowball into missed connections and rolling delays.

Morning Snapshot

As of about 8:15 a.m. Eastern, FlightAware reported 517 delays and 608 cancellations within, into, or out of the United States. Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) accounted for the highest number of cancellations, followed by Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), and Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

Those figures come on top of more than 10,000 cancellations since the FAA began enforcing phased flight reductions at 40 major airports one week ago. Even with the cap frozen at six percent instead of marching up to eight and ten percent, the combination of lost flying, displaced crews, and mispositioned aircraft leaves airlines with limited room to absorb new disruptions.

For individual travelers, the distinction between a six percent and a ten percent cut is real but subtle. Fewer flights are being removed than feared, yet the remaining schedule is still tightly wound, so a single missed connection in Chicago O'Hare or Atlanta can ripple through multiple later banks of departures.

FAA Cuts Stay At Six Percent

The current pattern traces back to the FAA's Emergency Order Establishing Operating Limitations on the Use of Navigable Airspace, issued on November 7. That order directed airlines to trim operations between 6 00 a.m. and 10 00 p.m. local time at 40 high traffic airports, with an original glide path that climbed from four percent cuts on November 7, to six percent on November 11, eight percent on November 13, and ten percent on November 14.

This week, however, federal officials signaled a shift. After a funding deal to end the shutdown came together, the Department of Transportation froze the cap at six percent, citing a rapid drop in air traffic controller callouts and a desire to avoid unnecessary cancellations while still protecting safety margins in the National Airspace System. The FAA has told airlines the six percent hold will remain in place while safety teams assess whether the system can gradually return to normal operations.

For travelers, the freeze at six percent does two things. It avoids an even deeper round of cuts that could have removed roughly one in ten flights at the affected hubs, and it extends the period where the system operates under a structural capacity constraint. Airlines cannot simply schedule extra flights into the remaining slots, so the number of available seats for last minute rebooking stays tight, especially on peak corridors and late day departures.

Northeast Winds And West Coast Low Clouds

Today's operations plan from the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center adds a layer of weather and infrastructure risk on top of the shutdown driven cap. The latest advisory highlights gusty winds affecting the Boston, New York, and Philadelphia terminal areas, and low ceilings or reduced visibility at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Diego International Airport (SAN), and Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS).

Controllers are not yet running any major ground delay programs, but the plan explicitly calls out the possibility of afternoon ground stops or ground delay programs for Austin and San Diego after early afternoon, San Francisco later in the day, then Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), and Newark later in the evening.

Runway and taxiway closures add further friction. The operations plan notes that Orlando International Airport (MCO), Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Newark Liberty International Airport, Denver International Airport (DEN), Tampa International Airport (TPA), Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), Chicago O'Hare, and San Diego are all operating with at least one runway or significant piece of taxiway out of service for construction or maintenance.

None of these constraints automatically guarantee long delays, but in a system that is already capped at six percent below normal, every crosswind and closed runway matters. If the winds in the Northeast force controllers to reduce arrival rates at Boston Logan, the New York area airports, or Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), holding patterns can stack up quickly. On the West Coast, low clouds at San Francisco or San Diego can trigger instrument arrival procedures that cut throughput, which is why the operations plan hints at possible ground delay programs later in the day.

Where Delays Are Most Likely

The early cancellation leaderboard tells a familiar story. Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta, Newark, Dallas Fort Worth, and Seattle Tacoma are once again carrying an outsized share of the pain, reflecting both their role in the 40 airport cap and the way airlines have chosen to spread cancellations across their networks.

At Chicago O'Hare, local reporting has tracked day after day of triple digit cancellations since the cap took effect, with earlier six percent cuts already driving more than 100 scrapped flights on some days. Seattle Tacoma has also seen heavy disruption as carriers trimmed schedules and navigated a week of poor weather, with more than 200 daily delays at points during the shutdown.

Newark and Dallas Fort Worth, meanwhile, sit at the intersection of several factors. Both are on the FAA's high impact list, both have complex runway layouts with ongoing construction projects nearby, and both serve as major connection points for domestic and international traffic. When cuts combine with adverse winds or temporary runway closures, they become chokepoints for entire airline networks, not just local passengers.

Travelers on smaller regional spokes feel the effects too. As airlines comply with the cap, they often prioritize preserving trunk routes between large cities and trimming frequencies on thinner regional legs. That can leave communities with only one or two daily flights facing outright cancellations, and it makes missed connections more punishing because the next option may not run until the following day.

How To Protect Your Trip Today

In this environment, strategy matters as much as luck. If you still have flexibility, the safest move is to push your itinerary toward earlier departures from the most constrained hubs. Morning flights are more likely to leave close to on time, they face fewer accumulated delays from earlier banks, and they give you more room to recover if something does go wrong.

Connection planning is your next lever. Under normal conditions, a 60 minute connection at a familiar hub might feel comfortable. Under a six percent system wide cap with elevated cancellations, treating 90 minutes as a minimum target at big airports such as Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta, Newark, Dallas Fort Worth, and Seattle Tacoma makes more sense, especially if you are protecting an international leg. Adding an extra half hour in the concourse is almost always cheaper and less stressful than spending a day trying to reaccommodate a missed onward flight.

Your airline's digital tools are the other critical piece. United, Delta, American, Southwest, and other carriers are updating their waiver pages and auto rebooking policies to reflect the FAA cuts and the shutdown recovery timeline. Checking your reservation the night before travel, again first thing in the morning, and once more as you head to the airport gives you multiple chances to grab alternate routings before seats disappear.

Finally, keep an eye on the FAA's own channels. The Daily Air Traffic Report page provides a high level view of expected trouble spots, and the National Airspace System Status pages plus ATCSCC advisories show live ground delay programs, runway closures, and airspace restrictions. Those tools are not a substitute for airline notifications, but they are a useful early warning system when ground stops begin popping up at the very hubs you are trying to connect through.

If you are traveling today or over the weekend, the most realistic mindset is that conditions are improving, but not back to normal. The worst case ten percent cuts have been avoided, yet the six percent cap, the shutdown backlog, and patchy weather in several regions still add up to a higher than usual risk of disruption. Treat your itinerary like a time sensitive project, give it more buffer than you normally would, and be ready to use every tool your airline offers to keep the trip on track.