Most ground stops are short. They're designed as a quick pause while air traffic control waits for a storm to pass or a problem to be fixed. But they can be extended, sometimes several times, and longer disruptions usually turn into a ground delay program.
What our data shows
GroundStop.app records every ground stop it sees, checking every minute. Across 791 ground stops that ended in the last 90 days:
- The median ground stop lasted 1 hr 23 min.
- 26% were over within an hour, and 67% within two hours.
- 43% were extended at least once past their original end time.
- The longest lasted 14 hr 37 min.
Lengths are measured from when the status feed first showed the stop to when it disappeared, accurate to about a minute.
Reading the end time
Every ground stop is issued with a scheduled end time (for example "until 8:15 pm EDT") and a probability of extension: low, medium or high. GroundStop.app shows both in each airport's card on the live map. A high probability means you should plan for a longer delay.
What usually happens next
- It's lifted: held flights start departing, usually in a wave, so expect some extra delay as the backlog clears.
- It's extended: the end time moves later, sometimes several times.
- It becomes a ground delay program: flights get individual departure times (EDCTs) instead of a blanket hold.