July 16, 2026

Philadelphia's wildfire-smoke ground delay program is now active, Seattle is in a thunderstorm ground stop, and the FAA flags New York's airports for 3 PM

The FAA implemented Philadelphia's ground delay program at 11:30 AM ET (arrivals 2 PM through midnight, averaging 65 minutes, max 125) after Canadian wildfire smoke dropped the airport to a 32-arrival rate. Seattle went into a thunderstorm ground stop at 12:45 PM. The FAA's 11:36 AM ops plan keeps San Francisco and San Diego in ground delay programs and lists LaGuardia, JFK, Newark, Washington, and Orlando as possible after 3 PM. No airline has issued a smoke waiver.

Philadelphia's ground delay program went from "possible" to active. This morning's issue reported the FAA's 9:36 AM ops plan (ADVZY 045) flagging a Philadelphia GDP as possible at 2 PM because smoke from Canada's wildfires made the airport's secondary runway unusable and dropped it to a 32-arrival rate. By 11:18 AM the FAA proposed the program (ADVZY 054), and at 11:30 AM it implemented it (ADVZY 055): arrivals from 2 PM through 11:59 PM ET, averaging 65 minutes with a 125-minute maximum, at a 32-per-hour arrival rate. The cause is low visibility from wildfire smoke, not thunderstorms. Pennsylvania declared a statewide code red air quality day, and the National Weather Service's Mount Holly office said the smoke, from fires in western Ontario, could linger through Friday afternoon (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 16). The same smoke system is blanketing 17 states, with Detroit's air quality index near 600 on Thursday morning (ABC News, July 16).

Three ground delay programs are running at once. San Francisco's GDP (averaging 55 minutes this morning) continues through 6:59 PM ET, and San Diego's volume-driven GDP (averaging 31 minutes) runs through 1:59 AM ET Friday, both per the FAA's 11:36 AM ops plan (ADVZY 056). That plan names the constraint plainly: "N90/PHL, low vis/smoke," meaning the New York terminal airspace and Philadelphia are both seeing smoke-reduced visibility now. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement that "smoke from Canada's wildfires is affecting visibility in our airspace and leading to delays" and that the FAA is "fully prepared to modify operations as needed" (Travel Market Report, July 16). More than 850 wildfires are burning across Canada as of July 16, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (USA Today, July 16). The National Weather Service expects unhealthy air quality to persist through Thursday before winds shift, pushing the smoke west into the interior Northeast and Ohio Valley on Friday (Travel Market Report, July 16).

Seattle-Tacoma went into a ground stop at 12:45 PM ET (ADVZY 061, signed 1:03 PM) over thunderstorms, holding 625 flights with a 30-minute average and 74-minute maximum. The stop is scheduled to lift at 2:15 PM ET with a medium probability of extension. Seattle sat at 61 degrees under overcast skies with light rain at midday. This is the first Seattle ground stop this week and adds a second active disruption type (convective) alongside the smoke-driven GDPs on the coasts.

The FAA's afternoon watch list is crowded. The 11:36 AM ops plan (ADVZY 056) puts ground stops or delay programs as POSSIBLE at LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark after 3 PM ET, with Washington (IAD, DCA, BWI) and Orlando in the same window and Miami and Fort Lauderdale after 4 PM. Atlanta is possible after 2 PM. The smoke is forecast to keep pushing south toward Washington and New York through the afternoon. The trade publication Travel Market Report reports the FAA is preparing Newark (averaging 34 minutes) and LaGuardia (averaging 54 minutes) ground delay programs for the early afternoon, consistent with the ops plan's 3 PM window, though no formal FAA advisory for either had been issued as of 1:14 PM ET. The Washington Center (ZDC) also issued a severe-weather-avoidance plan (ADVZY 053) for isolated thunderstorms developing after 3 PM across eastern Pennsylvania into the Delmarva and southern New Jersey, which would compound any smoke-driven delays at the same airports. If you are flying into the New York metro, Philadelphia, or Washington this afternoon, the 3-to-4 PM window is when the FAA expects the smoke and storms to converge.

No airline has issued a wildfire-smoke travel waiver for the Northeast as of Thursday afternoon, following the same pattern as the 2023 Canadian smoke event when waivers came late if at all. The only active waiver is United's South Texas alert (Austin, Houston, San Antonio), which allows rebooking for travel through July 17, meaning tomorrow is the last day (United travel alerts). If a smoke-driven ground delay program lands at your destination, expect the airline to rebook you on the next available flight rather than cancel outright, but check your carrier's app before heading to the airport. LaGuardia's own notice on Thursday afternoon told travelers that "low visibility due to smoke conditions in the region is impacting flight arrivals and departures" (Travel Market Report, July 16).

Tracking the rest. Texas is easing: the Austin, San Antonio, and Tampa thunderstorm arrival delays that led this morning's issue have eased, though Houston Center coded departure reroutes for Austin and San Antonio were extended to 6 PM ET (ADVZY 062). Aspen had a brief volume ground stop from 12:31 to 2 PM ET (ADVZY 060). Denver is under capping and tunneling through 3 PM ET for high-altitude volume, with a severe-weather-avoidance plan possible after 3 PM. Looking ahead, SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 is scheduled to launch from Starbase, Texas at 6:45 PM ET tonight, with pre-mission airspace restrictions on Texas Gulf Coast routes that could add pressure to the Houston and Dallas airspace still managing the afternoon thunderstorm cleanup.