Ground stop at Philadelphia (PHL), Oct 16, 2026

EndedThunderstorms halt Philadelphia departures for 54 minutes

Started: Fri, Oct 16, 5:06 PM EDT21:06 UTC
Ended: Fri, Oct 16, 6:00 PM EDT22:00 UTC
Duration: 54 min
Cause: thunderstorms

Ended: final numbers are being collected; this page becomes permanent shortly.

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What happened

AI-written · may contain mistakes. Written from the advisory text and weather only.

Cause: Thunderstorms near the airport and a lack of open routes around them led air traffic control to hold departures heading out of Philadelphia.

The ground stop began at 21:06 UTC and ended at 22:00 UTC, lasting 54 minutes. Departures were held from one air traffic control center. The advisory showed total delays rising from 72 to 145 flights, and a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was in effect.

Impact by airline

Aircraft seen on the ground at PHL and holding nearby, by airline.

Airline	On ground	Holding
American Airlines AA	10	—
United Airlines UA	2	—
Allegiant Air G4	1	—
Air Canada AC	1	—
JetBlue B6	1	—
PSA Airlines OH	1	—

Impact by region

Air traffic control centers whose departures to the airport were held.

Center	Status
Chicago Center (ZAU)	Held

Aircraft at the airport

Peak 20 on the ground, 0 holding nearby.

On the ground Holding nearby

Timeline

Every change published while the ground stop was in effect, as seen each minute.

Oct 16, 5:06 PM EDT
Ground stop issued at PHL for thunderstorms, until 6:00 pm EDT. Departures held from ZAU.
Oct 16, 5:08 PM EDT
Reason changed to thunderstorms.
Oct 16, 6:00 PM EDT
Ground stop ended after 54 min.

Advisories

The air traffic control advisories issued for this ground stop, as published.

ATCSCC ADVZY 145 PHL/ZNY 10/16/2026 CDM GROUND STOP

CTL ELEMENT: PHL
ELEMENT TYPE: APT
ADL TIME: 2100Z
GROUND STOP PERIOD: 16/2050Z - 16/2200Z
CUMULATIVE PROGRAM PERIOD: 16/1800Z - 17/0159Z
DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: (Manual) ZAU
PREVIOUS TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 72 / 60 / 36
NEW TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 145 / 91 / 72
PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MEDIUM
IMPACTING CONDITION: WEATHER / THUNDERSTORMS
COMMENTS: INTERNAL TO ZAU ONLY. LACK OF ROUTES. SVRWX IS WORKING ON
 ROUTES

Original advisory ↗

Where flights were held

Departures to PHL were held from 1 center (Manual).

Chance of extension: MEDIUM

Weather at the time

METAR, weather alerts and SIGMETs at the airport during the stop.

When it started

VFR

METAR KPHL 162054Z 23011KT 10SM FEW017 SCT050 25/19 A2969 RMK AO2 SLP053 CB DSNT NW MOV E T02500194 56026 · observed Oct 16, 4:54 PM EDT

Severe Thunderstorm Watch · Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued October 16 at 3:52PM EDT until October 16 at 8:00PM EDT by NWS Mount Holly NJ

Latest during the stop

VFR

METAR KPHL 162154Z 22008KT 10SM FEW018 SCT035 SCT060 24/19 A2969 RMK AO2 SLP055 CB DSNT NW-DSNT NE MOV E T02390194 · observed Oct 16, 5:54 PM EDT

Severe Thunderstorm Watch · Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued October 16 at 3:52PM EDT until October 16 at 8:00PM EDT by NWS Mount Holly NJ

Philadelphia (PHL) live status →Every ground stop at PHL →Replay Oct 16, 2026 on the map →Read the full advisory ↗What is a ground stop? →

How it is measured

Status, timeline, cause and held centers: the national airspace status feed, checked every minute, and the air traffic control advisories it links to.
Delays by airline and region: departures and arrivals at PHL 30 or more minutes late, by their estimated delay against the schedule, sampled every 10 minutes while the stop is active and once more after it ends.
Totals and cancellations: arrival and departure boards for PHL, every 30 minutes while active and once more after the end. Delayed means 15 or more minutes late at PHL; cancelled is the airline's cancelled status; codeshares count once. Flights scheduled from the start until an hour after the end are counted.
Held at origin: the same arrivals boards, which carry each flight's scheduled and actual departure from its origin. A flight is held when it is still scheduled, not departed, 15 or more minutes past its scheduled departure at a sample taken during the stop. In scope: its origin is in a held center or listed facility; flights from elsewhere are late for other reasons.
Inbound in the air: the same arrivals boards. At each board taken during the stop, a flight to PHL is in the air when it has departed (en route, or with an actual departure time) and not landed, cancelled or diverted; one still shown in the air over an hour past its arrival estimate, or departed more than 18 hours earlier, is treated as stale and left out.
Diversions: an inbound flight marked diverted during the stop or the wrap-up after it (not one marked before it could have departed), or one still shown in the air 30+ minutes past its arrival estimate that ADS-B (by its ICAO call sign) then found on the ground at another airport, not its origin. The diversion airport is the airport ADS-B found it at, else the updated destination. Cancellations never count. Regional flights flown under another call sign can't be found on ADS-B, so their diversion airport may be unknown.
Aircraft on the ground and holding: ADS-B positions around PHL, every 5 minutes; the airline is read from the call sign. Holding counts airline flights only (passenger, regional and cargo), not private, military or medical flights.
Weather: METARs, SIGMETs and weather alerts.
News: headline links filtered to this airport and these days; we show titles and links only.

Data sources are listed on the credits page.