FAA Airport stops & slowdowns affecting AA - Jan 2019 gov’t shutdown
 

Avoid LGA if you can today! I believe it may have spread to PHL and EWR. (PHl and EWR are speculative, friend who works in news just reported this)

Update: Looks like a slowdown at PHL and EWR and TPA may be added soon.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/25/faa-halts-traffic-into-laguardia-airport-amid-shortage-of-tsa-workers.html

https://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp

The news has stated that it was specifically arrivals, but I can't find a way to confirm.

FAA website is the best source. Staffing shortages at PHL, EWR, and LGA have resulted in various holds. PHL appears to be longest at 1:0 hours and includes gate and taxiway holds. If it continues arrivals vs. departures won't matter much.

https://www.fly.faa.gov/ois/

Was showing LGA, EWR, and PHL a little earlier. Now just LGA.

Official FAA response downplays it.

https://tinyurl.com/y7l3jnow

"minimal impact"

As a reminder, when CNN first reported on TSA callouts, the official response that day was akin to "fake news." They backtracked two days later when they had to shut down the Miami terminal.

Think it extends to departures too. My colleague has been stuck since last night between weather delays that led to initial cancellation and then stuck on the tarmac because of the ground stop (I was lucky to get out on the one JFK - RDU Delta flight that went out)

I confirm that is NOT the case. Looking out the window from the AC and planes continue to take off and land. Of course, my flight has been delayed, so they may just be getting inbound aircraft in. AC manager said he just got off the phone with AA ops in the tower and there is no stop in place.

The issues this morning were tied directly to ZDC and ZJX (DC and JAX Centers) staffing issues. There were most definitely delays for departures, specifically those going south from JFK (NY-FL, Caribbean, etc). Multiple 75-90 minute voyages to the runway.

I'm working from the MIA AC this AM. At one time there was quite a back up to the runway but now it appears back to normal with few flights showing late.

No one was claiming there was a stop. The reporting is that they're reducing volume, which seems consistent with both the arrival/departure data, the fly.faa.gov website, and your delayed flight.

The FAA only officially meters arrivals. The assumption is that given a sufficiently long delay situation, planes can only depart from an airport if they have arrived at that airport. So they set the arrival rate based on what the airport can handle and then they essentially do 1 in 1 out. In theory, a departure shouldn't be delayed for any reason other than late arriving aircraft as a result. In reality, you do have the conga line, especially early on in the delay, because you have aircraft that were on the ground before the delays started who are still getting out at a slower rate, but that operates on a first-come first-served basis, without the FAA giving out slots (because an aircraft on the ground that can't leave is better than an aircraft in the air that can't land). You shouldn't ever be held at the gate because the airport you are AT is having departure delays (although that has its own set of caveats).

There was briefly a stop in place at LGA only at around 7:30 AM PST when I checked the first time. It's now just a GDP.

I feel like this was overblown of an issue; at least the LGA part. This was on the news in Chicago tonight, but at least half the time I fly through ORD all the flights to LGA are already delayed. Seems like LGA gets these types of delays if there is so much as a single cloud in the NYC airspace. Weather, FAA, is it really any different than normal for them?

When the the NYC or DFW stations sneeze the rest of the system catches a cold.

Whatever the case, there was definitely a non-weather cause there.

It's the taking off that gets you ;)