Denver's ground stop ended on schedule, Boston's day-long delay program was purged early, and zero ground stops remain tonight

The 9:30 PM Thursday update: the 6 PM issue's Denver ground stop expired at 7:15 PM ET as scheduled, Boston Logan's 110-minute ground delay program was purged well before its 12:59 AM end time, the Newark staffing watch fizzled, and a Las Vegas ground delay program is expected after 11:30 PM from a staffing trigger.

What changed: Denver cleared, Boston purged

The two items the 6 PM issue led with are both now over.

Denver's thunderstorm ground stop (ADVZY 150, 6:02 to 7:15 PM ET, 1,428 flights, thunderstorms in the D01 TRACON airspace) expired on schedule at 7:15 PM ET. The FAA's post-7:15 PM webinar operations plan (ADVZY 009, signed 9:24 PM ET) lists no active Denver program, and flightcheck.live shows Denver on time as of 9:07 PM ET. This was the third straight day of a Front Range terminal program (Tuesday GDP at 103 minutes, Wednesday a ground stop plus GDP, Thursday a ground stop), and today's was the shortest.

Boston Logan's ground delay program, which had held at about 110 minutes all day from low ceilings, was purged. ADVZY 009 states the "BOS ground delay program was purged and the remaining volume will be managed tactically." The FAA homepage now lists only two ground delays (San Francisco and San Diego), with Boston gone, and flightcheck shows Boston on time. The program had been scheduled to run to 12:59 AM ET per the 6 PM issue, so it ended roughly three hours early as the low ceilings lifted. Boston had led the country in delays through the afternoon (thetravel.com, 4:13 PM ET: 144 departures delayed, 26 canceled), but those numbers are from the peak before the purge.

What fizzled: the Newark staffing watch

The 6 PM issue flagged a Philadelphia TRACON Area C staffing trigger from 7 to 9 PM ET that could have driven a Newark ground stop or delay program. It did not fire. ADVZY 009 shows no Newark terminal program, and flightcheck shows Newark on time. The FAA is managing a different staffing constraint at Albuquerque Center's East Area (ZAB) with capping and tunneling through 1 AM ET, and a D10 TRACON staffing trigger runs until 11 PM, but neither has produced a terminal ground stop or delay program.

The only active ground delay programs are routine: San Francisco at about 48 minutes (fog and construction, 01R/19L closed through November 15) and San Diego at about 46 minutes (volume), both running overnight. Aspen has departure delays of 1 hour 16 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes from wind. The FAA homepage shows zero ground stoppages.

The overnight watch: Las Vegas

A Las Vegas ground delay program is expected after 11:30 PM ET (0330Z) from an L30 TRACON staffing trigger that runs until 3 AM, per ADVZY 009. This is a forecast, not yet active. Las Vegas has been a recurring staffing-driven constraint this week, with a GDP firing Wednesday night from the same L30 trigger. If you are flying through Las Vegas late tonight, check your airline app after 11:30 PM.

Friday's forecast and rebooking

The convective pattern restarts Friday. ADVZY 009 lists Orlando and Tampa ground stops possible after 6 AM ET, San Francisco probable after 11 AM, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and South Florida airports possible after 2 PM, and Denver possible after 4 PM. The SPC Day 2 outlook puts a Marginal Risk (lower than Thursday's Slight Risk) over the central and southern High Plains and from Iowa into the Ozarks, with no severe risk forecast for the Northeast.

Today's totals are a recovery from the midweek storm wall. FlightAware shows 202 US cancellations and 6,929 US delays as of 9:29 PM ET, down from Wednesday's 559 cancellations and 7,699 delays.

Airline waivers from the July 27 to 29 Northeast storm are expiring. Delta's Mid-Atlantic and NYC advisories, JetBlue's New York metro advisory, and United's East Coast advisory all carry rebook deadlines of July 30 through August 1. If you are still rebooking from the midweek disruption, check your airline's advisory page today (Delta, United, JetBlue, American) before the deadlines pass. The DOT cancellation dashboard lists your refund and rebooking rights.