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Flight Delays And Airport Impacts: December 15, 2025

US flight delays December 15 at San Francisco International as low clouds cut arrival rates and slow taxi outs
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5 min read

Key points

  • US flight delays December 15, 2025 are being driven by wind in the Northeast corridor and low clouds on the West Coast
  • FAA flagged wind impacts for Boston, New York area airports, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC area airports, plus low clouds at Los Angeles and San Francisco, and low clouds with thunderstorms near Seattle
  • FAA command center advisories included an active San Francisco ground delay program due to low ceilings and noted San Diego delay programs and a Newark ground stop as possibilities later
  • FlightAware reported 14,714 total delays and 637 total cancellations on December 15, with 1,611 delays and 280 cancellations within, into, or out of the United States
  • Cancellation pressure remained concentrated at New York area airports and other major hubs, raising misconnect risk for late day itineraries

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely
The highest delay and rebooking friction is most likely in the Northeast corridor and at low ceiling airports on the West Coast, especially New York area airports, Boston Logan, San Francisco International, and San Diego International
Best Times To Fly
Earlier departures tend to be easier to protect before ground delay programs and arrival rate reductions stack up later in the day
Connections And Misconnect Risk
Any itinerary connecting through New York area airports or other constrained hubs should assume tighter connection windows will fail and plan alternates
What Travelers Should Do Now
Check your airline app for waivers, switch to nonstop or earlier flights when possible, and add buffer for ground holds, gate delays, and rebook lines
International And Leisure Routes
Some routes can see reroutes when en route constraints are active, so build margin for Mexico and Florida connections if your routing crosses those airspace flows

US flight delays December 15, 2025 are building around two familiar chokepoints, the Northeast corridor and West Coast low ceilings. Travelers moving through Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), the New York area airports of John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), plus Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and the Washington, DC area airports, face the highest odds of missed connections and day of departure rebook scrambles. The practical move is to protect your schedule early, shift to nonstop or earlier departures if you can, and treat any tight connection as a gamble.

The FAA daily briefing pointed to wind as the main driver for Boston, the New York metro airports, Philadelphia, and the Washington, DC region, while low clouds were reported in Southern California at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Diego International Airport (SAN), and in Northern California at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The same briefing flagged low clouds and thunderstorms near Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA), a combination that can slow arrival rates and make recovery uneven once delays start cascading.

By mid day, the FAA command center was already managing the West Coast piece directly. A current operations plan advisory said a ground delay program was issued at San Francisco International due to low ceilings, and the plan also noted San Diego delay programs as possible later in the day, with a Newark ground stop listed as a later possibility. In plain terms, when ceilings drop, arrival spacing increases, and the system protects safety by metering inbound demand, which means longer holds at departure airports and more missed connections downline.

The Northeast picture started early. A separate command center operations plan covering the overnight and early morning period listed active ground delay programs for Kennedy and Newark Liberty, and it tagged Boston, the New York TRACON area, Philadelphia, and the Washington, DC metro airspace for low ceilings or visibility issues and wind. Even when those early initiatives end, they often leave schedule debt behind, because aircraft and crews do not reset instantly, they arrive late, they time out, or they land out of position for the next bank of departures.

Flight tracking data showed the disruption was not theoretical. FlightAware's nationwide tally for December 15 showed 14,714 delays and 637 cancellations across its global counts, with 1,611 delays and 280 cancellations within, into, or out of the United States. In the New York metro specifically, Kennedy reported 170 delays and 63 cancellations, and LaGuardia reported 68 delays and 58 cancellations, both numbers consistent with a day where a large share of passengers end up on later flights, alternate hubs, or next day itineraries.

Outside the Northeast, a few hubs still showed meaningful cancellation volume. Boston Logan posted 84 delays and 22 cancellations, San Francisco International showed 58 delays and five cancellations, and Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) showed 81 delays and 42 cancellations, which matters because Atlanta is a major connection point for the Southeast and Florida. Seattle Tacoma's counts were smaller in cancellations, but weather driven arrival slowdowns can still produce long inbound holds and late gate arrival waves that disrupt evening connections.

If you are deciding what to do, the highest leverage step is to reduce dependency on tight connections. When the FAA is metering arrivals, the delays tend to show up at your origin airport as an assigned departure time, not as a dramatic delay board announcement, so refreshing your airline app and being willing to take an earlier departure usually beats waiting for a later flight that looks fine until it is not. If you must connect, favor a longer layover and avoid back to back last flight of the day segments, because once the evening bank gets compressed, reaccommodation options shrink fast, especially at the New York metro airports.

Travelers headed to leisure markets should also watch for en route constraints that do not look like weather at your departure airport. The command center advisories referenced time bounded airspace restrictions tied to space launches in Florida earlier in the day, plus other en route constraints that can trigger reroutes and airborne holding on specific flows. You do not need to decode the routing codes, you just need to know that your flight can be delayed even under clear skies if your route crosses a constrained corridor.

Finally, keep the context from Sunday's blow up in mind when you are making Monday decisions. FlightAware's totals for December 14 showed 29,183 delays and 2,168 cancellations, with 9,983 delays and 1,506 cancellations within, into, or out of the United States, a level of disruption that typically takes at least a full day to unwind even after the worst weather clears. Monday's pattern is less about one giant storm headline and more about capacity limits in a few key regions that ripple through hub and spoke networks all day.

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