July 17, 2026

San Francisco is in a one-hour ground delay program, Canadian wildfire smoke is still hanging over the Northeast, and a Toronto slowdown is rerouting New York departures

The FAA implemented San Francisco's ground delay program at 9:28 AM ET (arrivals 11 AM through 6:59 PM ET, averaging 60 minutes, max 134) over low ceilings. San Diego went into a volume ground delay program averaging 27 minutes. Canadian wildfire smoke is still cutting visibility across the Northeast and Midwest, and the FAA added Philadelphia to its plan for a possible 2 PM program. A reduced-capacity Toronto Pearson is forcing New York departure reroutes, and New York's oceanic routes are closed to thunderstorms through 2 PM. SpaceX's Starship launch moved off today to July 20.

San Francisco is the only major U.S. airport in an active terminal program right now, and it is a heavy one. The FAA's SFO ground delay program, implemented at 9:28 AM ET, covers arrivals from 11 AM through 6:59 PM ET and is averaging 60 minutes of delay with a max of 134. The FAA lists the cause as "other," its catch-all for the marine-layer low ceilings that sock in the Bay most summer mornings, compounded by the long-running 01R/19L and taxiway W construction that has SFO on a 36-arrival rate. flightcheck.live shows it live at about an hour as of 10:33 AM ET. San Diego followed at 9:42 AM ET with its own volume ground delay program, arrivals 1 PM ET through 12:59 AM ET, averaging 27 minutes (max 81). That one is heavy traffic and demand, not a storm. Miami is already showing 16-to-30-minute departure delays from volume as South Florida gears up for afternoon thunderstorms.

The more unusual piece is upstream of New York. The FAA issued a route restriction at 6:26 AM ET rerouting New York departures headed for the Midwest and West, and the stated reason is Toronto: "due to reduced system capacity in CYYZ." Toronto Pearson's slowdown is spilling into how the FAA sequences outbound jets from the New York area. That runs through 11 AM ET. On top of it, New York's oceanic routes L453 and L456 are closed for thunderstorms, extended through 2 PM ET, and the Gulf routes over Florida (Y280, Y290, Q100, Q102) are closed to storms through noon. None of this is a ground stop, but it is the kind of upstream rerouting that quietly stretches flight times and pushes connections tight even when your departure airport looks clear.

Then there is the smoke, which is the story to watch this afternoon. The FAA's latest operations plan, signed 9:38 AM ET, says smoke and haze "continues to impact visibilities in the major Northeast and Midwest markets" and adds Philadelphia to the plan for a possible terminal initiative after 2 PM ET on visibility concerns, with the New York terminal area flagged for low visibility and smoke. This is the same mechanism that put Philadelphia into a 65-minute ground delay program Thursday after Canadian smoke dropped its arrival rate to 32. The smoke itself is not letting up: CNN, updated 8:27 AM ET, says the plumes are bringing dangerous air quality to more than 120 million people in the Midwest and Northeast and will last through Saturday as new waves arrive. ABC News notes the smoke was already affecting commercial air traffic Thursday, when the FAA slowed Philadelphia arrivals and an American Airlines pilot told controllers ash was sticking to his windshield. An approaching cold front is expected to gradually push the smoke south and east and slowly clear the air behind it.

If you are flying later, the 2 PM ET hour is where the FAA is concentrating its risk. The same operations plan lists possible ground stops or delay programs after 2 PM for Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare and Midway, and Las Vegas, with Washington Reagan possible from noon on wind and low visibility. South Florida is already under a severe-weather-avoidance and coded-departure-routes advisory through 4 PM ET, and the Washington Center is planning route swaps for isolated storms after 3 PM. North Texas (DFW and Love Field) and Phoenix are on weather routing advisories too. A VIP movement into JFK and Bedminster, New Jersey this afternoon may add holding delays on top.

One correction from overnight: SpaceX's Starship Flight 13, which had been moved to today, has slipped again to July 20, a 6:45 PM ET launch from Boca Chica, Texas, with a July 21 backup. So there is no Texas launch-airspace impact today.

On rebooking: no airline had issued a smoke or weather waiver for today's delays as of mid-morning, consistent with the pattern all week, when no smoke waiver was issued even as Philadelphia sat in a delay program Thursday. The United waiver covering Austin, Houston, and San Antonio closes its rebook window today. If you are connecting through San Francisco, San Diego, or the Northeast this afternoon, check your airline's travel-alerts page before you head out. The kind of delay that starts as "other" at SFO can cascade fast once the smoke and the afternoon storms stack on top.