Ground stop at Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX), Oct 13, 2026

EndedLow clouds halt departures to Phoenix for 36 minutes

Started: Tue, Oct 13, 6:50 AM MST13:50 UTC
Ended: Tue, Oct 13, 7:26 AM MST14:26 UTC
Duration: 36 min
Cause: low ceilings

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What happened

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

Cause: Low cloud ceilings at Phoenix Sky Harbor reduced how many planes could land, so air traffic control held departures heading there.

The ground stop began at 13:50 UTC and ended at 14:26 UTC, lasting 36 minutes. It had been set to run until 9:00 am Mountain time (15:00 UTC), but it was lifted early. Departures were held from two air traffic control centers.

Impact by airline

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

Airline	On ground	Holding
American Airlines AA	13	—
Southwest Airlines WN	11	—
Envoy Air MQ	4	—
Frontier Airlines F9	4	—
Delta Air Lines DL	2	—
FedEx Express FX	2	—
SkyWest Airlines OO	2	—
United Airlines UA	2	—
Alaska Airlines AS	1	—
Empire Airlines PN	1	—
Sun Country Airlines SY	1	—

Impact by region

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

Center	Status
Albuquerque Center (ZAB)	Held
Los Angeles Center (ZLA)	Held

Aircraft at the airport

Peak 40 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 13, 6:50 AM MST
Ground stop issued at PHX for low ceilings, until 9:00 am MDT. Departures held from ZLA, ZAB.
Oct 13, 7:26 AM MST
Ground stop ended after 36 min.

Advisories

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

ATCSCC ADVZY 055 PHX/ZAB 10/13/2026 CDM GROUND STOP

CTL ELEMENT: PHX
ELEMENT TYPE: APT
ADL TIME: 1345Z
GROUND STOP PERIOD: 13/1335Z - 13/1500Z
DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: (Manual) ZLA ZAB
PREVIOUS TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 0 / 0 / 0
NEW TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 704 / 78 / 44
PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MEDIUM
IMPACTING CONDITION: WEATHER / LOW CEILINGS
COMMENTS: CEILINGS DECREASED AAR.

Original advisory ↗

Where flights were held

Departures to PHX were held from 2 centers (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 KPHX 131251Z 12006KT 10SM FEW016 BKN045 BKN085 19/17 A2986 RMK AO2 SLP100 P0002 T01940172 $ · observed Oct 13, 5:51 AM MST

Latest during the stop

VFR

METAR KPHX 131351Z 17008KT 10SM FEW040 BKN070 OVC100 20/17 A2987 RMK AO2 SLP102 T02000167 $ · observed Oct 13, 6:51 AM MST

In the news

Headlines that mention this airport and the disruption. Links open the publisher.

Ground stop in place at Phoenix Sky Harbor due to low ceilings Tuesday morning
ABC15 Arizona · Oct 13, 7:03 AM MST
Phoenix Sky Harbor flights delayed, canceled after ground stop
azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic · Oct 13, 6:30 AM MST

Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) live status →Every ground stop at PHX →Replay Oct 13, 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 PHX 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 PHX, every 30 minutes while active and once more after the end. Delayed means 15 or more minutes late at PHX; 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 PHX 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 PHX, 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.