Flight Delays And Airport Impacts: November 22, 2025

Published on Nov 22, 2025, 9:27 am CST

9 min read

Key points

US airport delays November 22 are moderate but concentrated at coastal hubs, Seattle, and busy Florida and Mexico holiday routes
Runway closures at Los Angeles, LaGuardia, Seattle, Palm Beach, and San Diego add local bottlenecks to already high Thanksgiving traffic
Flight trackers report several thousand delays and a few hundred cancellations across US carriers by late morning, with New York, San Diego, Dallas, Austin, and Sarasota among the hotspots
Thanksgiving week weather keeps the biggest aviation risks in Seattle, Phoenix, and parts of the Southwest while the East Coast sees lighter showers
The FAA has ended shutdown related nationwide schedule cuts, but route controls, staffing constraints, and special use airspace still shape traffic flows

Impact

Where Delays Are Most Likely: Expect the highest delay risk at New York area airports, Seattle, San Diego, Dallas, Austin, Sarasota, and on routes into Florida and Mexico
Best Times To Fly: Early morning and late evening departures remain the least delayed on November 22, especially for transcontinental and Florida bound flights
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Tight connections through New York, Atlanta, Seattle, and Dallas are vulnerable, so aim for at least two to three hours between flights
Onward Travel And Changes: Build extra time into car rentals, cruise departures, and resort transfers from coastal hubs, especially for same day connections to ships or tours
What Travelers Should Do Now: Monitor your airline app, check the FAA delay map before leaving for the airport, and rebook proactively if severe delays appear at your origin or hub

US flyers heading into the core of the Thanksgiving travel period on Saturday, November 22, 2025, are seeing US airport delays November 22 that are moderate overall but clustered around a handful of coastal hubs and holiday sun routes. Major airports in the New York area, Seattle, San Diego, Dallas, Austin, and Sarasota are showing elevated delay times as low clouds, storms, and construction collide with heavy demand. Travelers using these hubs, or connecting through them to Florida, Mexico, or the Caribbean, should build in generous buffers and be ready to pivot if weather or routing controls worsen through the afternoon and evening.

In simple terms, the latest FAA operational advisories, along with real time tracker data, point to a busy but functioning system for US airport delays November 22, driven more by patchy coastal weather, construction, and lingering staffing stress than by the emergency schedule cuts seen earlier this month.

Holiday Volume Meets A Tight System

The FAA expects the Thanksgiving period to be the busiest in 15 years, with more than 360,000 flights over the holiday window and a peak of over 52,000 flights on Tuesday, November 25. That surge is already visible in Saturday traffic, where the national picture shows thousands of delays and a few hundred cancellations spread across multiple carriers.

One trade report, citing airline and airport data, estimates around 3,494 delays and 276 cancellations across the United States by November 22 midday, with the heaviest disruptions at major airports in New York, San Diego, Dallas, Austin, and Sarasota. FlightAware's live dashboard around the same time shows roughly 9,725 delays and 385 cancellations worldwide, including about 844 delays and 53 cancellations on flights within, into, or out of the United States, underscoring that problems are concentrated but not system wide.

For travelers, that mix means most flights will still operate, but choke points at key hubs will punish tight connections and late afternoon departures that run into stacking delays.

Where Delays Are Most Likely On November 22

The FAA's current operations plan highlights a familiar list of November pressure points. Low ceilings and instrument approaches are in the forecast for Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Teterboro Airport (TEB), and the broader New York terminal area, which tend to amplify minor schedule slippage into rolling delays.

Farther south, Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is flagged for potential thunderstorms and en route constraints in the Atlanta center airspace, which can slow flows between the Northeast, the Southeast, and Florida. Washington area airports, including Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), and Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), are also seeing longer queues at times as low clouds and the temporary suspension of flexible North American Route Program paths through the Washington center reduce routing options until November 30.

On the West Coast, Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is dealing with both weather and construction, and is one of the airports most likely to see persistent departure delays on November 22. Southwest hubs in the desert Southwest, including Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), are also under a travel impact alert as a slow moving low brings heavy rain to parts of southeastern California, Arizona, and New Mexico and reduces margins for on time operations.

Within that framework, FlightAware and outlet analyses highlight especially long average delays at Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Dallas Love Field (DAL), and San Diego International Airport (SAN), with volumes and runway construction pushing some waits past an hour. Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) is seeing shorter but still significant departure delays as traffic builds through the day.

Weather Patterns Shaping Flights

The broader Thanksgiving travel forecast is actually more benign than some past years, with no blockbuster coast to coast storm on November 22, but there are enough regional trouble spots to matter.

Forecasters at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, writing in a national breakdown, see the biggest November 22 risks centered on Seattle, Phoenix, and New York. Heavy rain and high elevation snow over the Pacific Northwest are expected to slow operations at Seattle Tacoma and nearby airports, and the unsettled pattern is likely to linger there well into Thanksgiving week. Over the Southwest, an unusually wet low pressure system is soaking parts of southeastern California, Arizona, and New Mexico, adding turbulence and occasional ground delays for departures and arrivals on key transcontinental routes.

Along the East Coast, the same forecast calls for only scattered, generally light showers along the Interstate 95 corridor from the mid Atlantic through New England, with precipitation below severe thresholds. That should keep New York and Boston airports operational, but low ceilings and wet runways will reduce arrival and departure rates at the busiest times, which is consistent with the FAA's planning assumptions.

Travelers connecting between these zones, especially on routes linking West Coast or Southwest cities with New York, Boston, or Washington, should expect longer gate holds and arrival metering and should treat close connections as risky.

Construction, Runway Closures, And Space Activity

Several medium term construction projects and short term runway closures are adding structural friction to the November 22 picture, even when skies are clear.

The FAA operations plan notes that one of the primary runways at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), 07L and 25R, is closed through the late evening in Coordinated Universal Time, which constrains how many departures and arrivals the airport can handle in peak banks. LaGuardia's crosswind runway 4 and 22 are also closed through the afternoon of November 23, limiting options in gusty or shifting winds and keeping more traffic concentrated on the main runway pair.

In Seattle, runway 16R and 34L remain closed into November 27, and multiples taxiway closures and construction projects further reduce flexibility during busy banks. Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) is operating with portions of its east taxiway complex closed into December, which occasionally slows ground movements when banks compress. Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) and San Diego International Airport have runway and apron work continuing into early 2026, a factor in the longer delays reported at San Diego in particular.

On top of that, there are intermittent airspace closures and reroutes for commercial space operations and special use airspace. While these events are usually brief, they can force reroutes around launch corridors or offshore restricted areas, adding time to flights along the West Coast and Gulf of Mexico and contributing to congestion on the remaining open routes.

Shutdown Cuts Have Ended, But The System Is Still Tight

A major structural shift, compared with early November, is that the FAA has formally canceled the emergency order that forced airlines to cut domestic schedules at 40 high impact airports during the federal government shutdown. That order, issued on November 7 and gradually tightened toward a planned 10 percent reduction in daily operations, was dialed back to 6 percent, then 3 percent, before being fully rescinded with normal operations resuming at 6 a.m. Eastern time on November 17.

A WAPT data analysis, drawing on FlightAware statistics, shows that once those mandated cuts ended, daily cancellations began trending downward across the four largest US carriers, even as traffic built toward Thanksgiving. However, the same analysis and the FAA's own narrative make clear that air traffic control staffing remains tight and that prolonged storms or localized staffing disruptions could still push the system back into stress.

That is why travelers on November 22 still see route controls, including the temporary suspension of flexible route options in Washington center airspace and carefully managed flows into Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean, even though nationwide schedule limits have ended.

For a deeper look at how those shutdown driven flight caps unfolded and which airports were in the 40 high impact group, travelers can review Adept Traveler's earlier coverage in Shutdown Flight Caps At US Airports.

Practical Steps For Travelers On November 22

For passengers traveling on November 22, the key is to treat the day as a normal high volume holiday Saturday with a few additional red flags rather than as a meltdown scenario.

First, build in margin where you can. If you are connecting through New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Dallas, or San Diego, aim for at least two to three hours between flights, especially in the late afternoon and evening when banks stack up delays. Avoid last flights of the day on regional spokes where a single cancellation can easily turn into an overnight stay.

Second, monitor both your airline and the FAA's public delay tools. Carrier apps and text alerts remain the fastest way to see gate or schedule changes, while the FAA's delay map and airport specific advisories show whether your hub is experiencing weather or volume constraints that could ripple through the schedule.

Third, be realistic about ground connections. If you are pairing a same day flight into a coastal hub with a cruise departure, resort shuttle, or long distance train, treat even "on time" arrivals with caution. Consider arriving a day early or purchasing flexible transfer arrangements that allow re timing without heavy penalties. Adept Traveler's evergreen Guide To US Airport Delays And Cancellations offers a deeper rundown on backup planning, insurance, and rebooking strategies.

Finally, remember that this is only the first act of the Thanksgiving travel week. Forecasts call for heavier impacts over the Great Lakes and parts of the East later in the week, even as Seattle and the Pacific Northwest remain under repeated rounds of rain and mountain snow. Travelers with flexibility may want to pull departures forward into quieter windows, including Thanksgiving Day itself, which historically sees lower volumes and, often, fewer severe delays.

For more detail on how the evolving storm track could affect specific Eastern US hubs, see Adept Traveler's previous piece Thanksgiving Storms And Eastern US Travel.