What happened
Cause: Thunderstorms were hitting both the departure and arrival gates at the airport, so flights leaving Baltimore were held on the ground for safety.
The ground stop began at 22:26 UTC on October 16 and was widened about six minutes later to include flights from more air traffic control centers. It was extended at 23:14 UTC to 8:15 pm Eastern time and ended at 00:15 UTC on October 17, after 1 hour 49 minutes.
Impact by airline
- Flights
- 89
- Delayed
- 56
- Cancelled
- 7
- Arrivals / departures
- 45 / 44
| Airline | Flights | Delayed / cancelled | Avg delay | On ground | Holding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines WN | 66 | 41 / 7 | 83 min | 7 | — |
| Delta Air Lines DL | 5 | 3 / 0 | 79 min | 1 | — |
| American Airlines AA | 4 | 3 / 0 | 97 min | — | — |
| United Airlines UA | 3 | 3 / 0 | 41 min | 1 | — |
| Frontier Airlines F9 | 4 | 2 / 0 | 66 min | 1 | — |
| Icelandair FI | 2 | 2 / 0 | 58 min | — | — |
| British Airways BA | 1 | 1 / 0 | 23 min | — | — |
| Republic Airways YX | 1 | 1 / 0 | 100 min | — | — |
| Envoy Air MQ | 1 | 0 / 0 | — | 1 | — |
| Atlas Air 5Y | 1 | 0 / 0 | — | — | — |
| Sun Country Airlines SY | 1 | 0 / 0 | — | — | — |
Delayed 15+ min CancelledOn ground / holding: most seen at once.
Held at origin
- Held at origin
- 19
- Average held
- 1 hr 3 min
- Longest
- 2 hr 36 min
10 from airports in the stop's scope; 9 from outside it, late for other reasons. Of the held flights, 9 since departed.
By origin
| Origin | Scope | Held | Avg | Longest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL Atlanta | In scope | 1 | 1 hr 36 min | 1 hr 36 min |
| BHM Birmingham | In scope | 1 | 26 min | 26 min |
| BUF Buffalo | In scope | 1 | 1 hr 46 min | 1 hr 46 min |
| DTW Detroit | In scope | 1 | 2 hr 36 min | 2 hr 36 min |
| IND Indianapolis | In scope | 1 | 21 min | 21 min |
| JAX Jacksonville | In scope | 1 | 36 min | 36 min |
| MYR Myrtle Beach | In scope | 1 | 21 min | 21 min |
| ORF Norfolk | In scope | 1 | 2 hr 36 min | 2 hr 36 min |
| SAV Savannah | In scope | 1 | 36 min | 36 min |
| TPA Tampa | In scope | 1 | 56 min | 56 min |
| MCO Orlando | Outside | 2 | 53 min | 1 hr 30 min |
| DFW DFW Airport | Outside | 1 | 20 min | 20 min |
| DJT | Outside | 1 | 1 hr 21 min | 1 hr 21 min |
| MDW Chicago | Outside | 1 | 46 min | 46 min |
| MKE Milwaukee | Outside | 1 | 32 min | 32 min |
By airline
| Airline | Held | Avg | Longest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines WN | 17 | 1 hr 4 min | 2 hr 36 min |
| American Airlines AA | 1 | 20 min | 20 min |
| Frontier Airlines F9 | 1 | 1 hr 30 min | 1 hr 30 min |
Inbound in the air and diversions
- Diverted
- 0
Diversions
No inbound flight has been seen diverting during this stop.
Impact by region
| Center | Status | Arrivals | Delayed | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Center (ZBW) | Held | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| Cleveland Center (ZOB) | Held | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Indianapolis Center (ZID) | Held | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Washington Center (ZDC) | Held | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Atlanta Center (ZTL) | Held | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Jacksonville Center (ZJX) | Held | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| New York Center (ZNY) | Held | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outside the US centers | Not held | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| Houston Center (ZHU) | Not held | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Miami Center (ZMA) | Not held | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Chicago Center (ZAU) | Not held | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Center (ZLA) | Not held | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Fort Worth Center (ZFW) | Not held | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Kansas City Center (ZKC) | Not held | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Minneapolis Center (ZMP) | Not held | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Albuquerque Center (ZAB) | Not held | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Denver Center (ZDV) | Not held | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Aircraft at the airport
On the ground Holding nearby
Timeline
Ground stop issued at BWI for thunderstorms, until 7:15 pm EDT. Departures held from ZOB.
Reason changed to thunderstorms.
Scope widened: departures now also held from ZTL, ZDC, ZNY, ZJX and 2 more.
Reason changed to thunderstorms.
New advisory issued.
Read the advisory ↗Reason changed to thunderstorms.
Extended until 8:15 pm EDT.
New advisory issued.
Read the advisory ↗Reason changed to thunderstorms.
Ground stop ended after 1 hr 49 min.
Advisories
ATCSCC ADVZY 172 BWI/ZDC 10/16/2026 CDM GROUND STOP
CTL ELEMENT: BWI ELEMENT TYPE: APT ADL TIME: 2310Z GROUND STOP PERIOD: 16/2215Z - 17/0015Z DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: (Manual) ZTL ZDC ZNY ZJX ZOB ZBW ZID CYHZ CYOW CYUL CYYZ CYTZ CYQB PREVIOUS TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 178 / 56 / 20 NEW TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 582 / 116 / 65 PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MEDIUM IMPACTING CONDITION: WEATHER / THUNDERSTORMS COMMENTS: THUNDERSTORMS IMPACTING BOTH DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL GATES.Original advisory ↗
ATCSCC ADVZY 165 BWI/ZDC 10/16/2026 CDM GROUND STOP
CTL ELEMENT: BWI ELEMENT TYPE: APT ADL TIME: 2229Z GROUND STOP PERIOD: 16/2215Z - 16/2315Z DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: (Manual) ZTL ZDC ZNY ZJX ZOB ZBW ZID CYHZ CYOW CYUL CYYZ CYTZ CYQB PREVIOUS TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 0 / 0 / 0 NEW TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 70 / 37 / 18 PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MEDIUM IMPACTING CONDITION: WEATHER / THUNDERSTORMS COMMENTS: TERMINAL IMPACTS LIKELY.Original advisory ↗
ATCSCC ADVZY 159 BWI/ZDC 10/16/2026 CDM GROUND STOP
CTL ELEMENT: BWI ELEMENT TYPE: APT ADL TIME: 2219Z GROUND STOP PERIOD: 16/2209Z - 16/2315Z DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: (Manual) ZOB PREVIOUS TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 0 / 0 / 0 NEW TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 177 / 61 / 59 PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MEDIUM IMPACTING CONDITION: WEATHER / THUNDERSTORMS COMMENTS: NO ROUTESOriginal advisory ↗