> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.thecontrail.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Live: Storm Ground Stops Lift After About 150 Flights Diverted - URL: https://www.thecontrail.org/nyc-airport-delays-today-storm-ground-stop/ - Published: 2026-11-12T18:37:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-13T16:50:49.000Z - Description: Flights from London, Paris and Amsterdam ended up in Boston and Bangor as storms shut down New York's airports. I'm updating this live. - Author: Zach Benitez - Tags: News, Breaking News, #live NYC airport delays are finally starting to ease tonight after one of the messiest afternoons of the year at New York's airports. As of 8:15 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, the FAA has lifted the storm ground stops at JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Philadelphia and Boston. The damage is still showing, though. Flights heading to JFK are delayed by close to five hours on average, and by my count from FlightAware data, about 150 flights bound for New York and Philadelphia diverted to other airports over the course of the day, from Hartford and Dulles to Bangor, Maine, and Toronto. I'm updating this page live as the stops lift or get extended. The newest updates are at the top of the Latest Updates section below. Live · Thursday, Nov. 12 · As of 8:15 p.m. ET Where Things Stand Tonight **Ground stops**Lifted at JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Philadelphia and Boston **JFK**Incoming flights still delayed close to 5 hours on average **Newark**Incoming delays averaging just over 3 hours, departures about 1.5 hours late **LaGuardia**Departures and arrivals running over an hour late **Diversions**About 150 flights diverted today, most to Hartford, Dulles, Boston and Philadelphia **Baltimore**Closed to more diverted airline flights until midnight **What to do**Check your airline's app before leaving, and expect knock-on delays Friday morning Graphic: ContrailContrail --- ## Latest Updates **8:15 p.m. ET:** The ground stops are over. The FAA lifted them at JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Philadelphia and Boston this evening, though the backlog is still heavy. Flights heading to JFK remain on a ground delay averaging four hours and 48 minutes, and flights to Newark are averaging just over three hours. Departures at Newark, LaGuardia and Boston are running more than an hour late. Baltimore filled up so fast that it's now closed to more diverted airline flights until midnight, except for emergencies. The diversions turned out to be much bigger than they first looked. By my count from FlightAware data, about 150 flights headed to JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Philadelphia landed somewhere else today, about half of them bound for JFK. Hartford and Dulles took the most, at least 16 each, followed by Boston and Philadelphia with 15 each, Harrisburg with 11 and Baltimore with at least 10\. Planes also landed in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, Charlotte, Norfolk, Providence and Toronto. Plenty of international flights got caught up in it. British Airways 113 and American 107 from London, Air France 6 and 8 from Paris, KLM 643 from Amsterdam and Delta 289 from Venice, all bound for JFK, ended up in Boston. American 141 from London to JFK landed in Bangor, Maine, alongside the Amsterdam flight bound for Philadelphia. Aer Lingus 109 from Dublin landed in Hartford, and Iberia 325 from Madrid to JFK ended up in Philadelphia. Air Canada 548 from Vancouver to Newark landed in Toronto instead. **5 p.m. ET:** LaGuardia is back under a ground stop until at least 5:30 p.m., so JFK, LaGuardia and Newark are all held at the same time again. JFK's stop now runs until at least 6 p.m., and Newark and Boston's until 5:30 p.m. Philadelphia's stop was listed until 5:15 p.m. Flights headed to Newark are now delayed by more than three hours on average, with some held up to eight and a half hours, while JFK's ground delay is still averaging about four hours. Departures from LaGuardia and Newark are running about an hour and a half to two hours late. **4:25 p.m. ET:** JFK is having its worst stretch of the day. The FAA put it back under a ground stop until at least 5:15 p.m. and added a ground delay for flights heading there that averages four hours and six minutes, with some held more than eight hours. Philadelphia's stop was also extended to 5:15 p.m. Newark and Boston are held until at least 4:30 p.m. Dulles is no longer on the ground stop list, and LaGuardia's stop has lifted, though flights to LaGuardia are still delayed by more than two hours on average. By my count from FlightAware data, nearly 60 flights bound for JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Philadelphia and Teterboro have diverted to other airports this afternoon. Baltimore has taken the most, with at least 14, followed by Hartford with seven and Harrisburg with five. Others landed in Raleigh-Durham, Providence, Dulles, Richmond, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and even Montreal and Toronto. Some of the trips got very long. American 203 from Amsterdam to Philadelphia landed in Bangor, Maine, and American 741 from Madrid to Philadelphia ended up in Pittsburgh. JetBlue 116 from San Francisco and Delta 546 from Phoenix, both headed to JFK, landed in Providence, Rhode Island. Alaska Airlines 16 from Seattle to JFK landed in Baltimore. **3:45 p.m. ET:** Planes are being diverted to some unexpected places. According to FlightAware, at least five flights headed to JFK or Philadelphia landed in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, instead, including Delta flights from Seattle and Portland, Oregon, that were bound for JFK. Delta 2956 from Atlanta and American flights from Orlando and Boston, all headed to Philadelphia, ended up there too. Two more JFK flights, JetBlue 380 from Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Delta 1999 from Miami, landed in Norfolk, Virginia. Meanwhile, Newark is back under a ground stop until at least 4:30 p.m. LaGuardia's stop has ended, but the FAA now has flights to LaGuardia on a ground delay averaging two hours and 23 minutes, with some held more than six hours. JFK's stop is still listed until 3:45 p.m., Philadelphia and Dulles until 4:15 p.m. and Boston until 4:30 p.m. **3:30 p.m. ET:** Things aren't settling down yet. LaGuardia's ground stop was pushed back again to 3:45 p.m., Philadelphia's to 4:15 p.m. and Boston's to 4:30 p.m., now the longest of the group. JFK's stop is still set to end at 3:45 p.m., but JFK departures are running about an hour and 50 minutes late on average and getting worse. Philadelphia departures are close to two hours behind. Dulles is held until 4:15 p.m., and Newark's ground delay is still averaging over two hours. **2:53 p.m. ET:** The storms have spread. JFK's ground stop now runs until at least 3:45 p.m., more than an hour longer than first planned, and JFK departures are running about an hour and 40 minutes late. LaGuardia's stop was extended to 3 p.m. and Philadelphia's to 3:15 p.m., where departures are now running more than two hours behind. Boston (until 3 p.m.) and Washington Dulles (until 4:15 p.m.) were added to the list. Newark's ground stop has ended, but the FAA now has flights to Newark on a ground delay averaging two hours and 17 minutes, with some held up to four and a half hours. **1:36 p.m. ET:** The FAA extended Newark's ground stop by an hour, to 2:45 p.m. LaGuardia's stop ran until 1:45 p.m., Philadelphia's until 2:15 p.m. and JFK's until 2:30 p.m. LaGuardia also had a ground delay averaging about an hour, with some flights held up to two and a half hours. **1:27 p.m. ET:** Thunderstorms pushed the FAA to put JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Philadelphia under ground stops at the same time. Some flights already in the air were diverted to other airports. ## Know Before You Fly Get flight disruptions that affect your trip, free in your inbox. Get Contrail Free Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. --- ## What to Do If You're Flying Today Check your flight in your airline's app before you leave for the airport, and keep checking. A flight that shows on time now can still pick up a delay once the stops lift and airlines start working through the backlog, and that backlog is going to last well into the evening. If you're flying into New York, Philadelphia, Boston or Washington, your flight is more likely to be held before it ever takes off, so you may end up waiting at your departure airport rather than at your destination. Ground stop end times are the FAA's best guess, and as today shows, they often get pushed back when storms linger. If you've never dealt with one before, here's [what a ground stop actually is and how long they usually last](https://www.thecontrail.org/what-is-a-ground-stop/). If your flight gets canceled, you're owed a refund if you choose not to travel, even when weather is the cause. Here's [what airlines owe you when a flight is canceled](https://www.thecontrail.org/flight-canceled-refund-rules/). And if you have a choice of New York airports on another day, my [comparison of JFK, LaGuardia and Newark](https://www.thecontrail.org/jfk-laguardia-newark-most-reliable-airport/) shows which one tends to hold up best.