Ground stop
A ground stop is an FAA order that prevents all aircraft from departing for one or more specific airports. No flights take off. Planes that are already airborne continue to their destination, but nothing new leaves the ground.
Ground stops are the FAA's most severe tool. They're used when conditions at a destination airport are so bad that sending more planes would make things worse — severe weather, equipment failures, or (rarely) security events.
During a ground stop, your plane sits at the gate. The airline can't do anything about it. The order comes from the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Warrenton, Virginia, and every airline must comply.
Ground delay program
A ground delay program (GDP) is less severe. Flights still depart, but the FAA assigns each flight a specific departure time that's later than originally scheduled. This spreads out arrivals at the destination airport to prevent overwhelming it.
Think of it as metering. Instead of 60 planes trying to land at SFO in one hour, the FAA spaces them to 40 per hour. Your flight still operates — it just leaves later.
During a GDP, your airline typically knows your expected delay within 30 minutes. You might see "delayed 45 minutes" on the departure board. That's a GDP at work.
How they affect your flight differently
| | Ground Stop | Ground Delay Program |
|---|---|---|
| Your plane departs? | No — held at gate | Yes — but later than scheduled |
| How long? | Unknown until lifted | Usually known (30 min to 4+ hours) |
| Can planes land? | Yes — airborne flights continue | Yes |
| How common? | Rare (a few per year nationwide) | Daily (somewhere in the US every day) |
| Typical cause | Severe weather, equipment failure, security | Traffic volume, moderate weather, runway construction |
| Your refund rights | Same as any delay/cancellation | Same as any delay/cancellation |
Can planes still land during a ground stop?
Yes. A ground stop prevents departures, not arrivals. Planes that are already in the air continue to their destination and land normally. The stop applies only to flights that haven't taken off yet.
This is why you'll see the departure board frozen while the arrival board still shows planes landing. It looks contradictory, but it's by design — the FAA is draining the sky of traffic without creating more by launching new departures.
Which is worse for you as a passenger?
It depends.
A ground stop is more disruptive in absolute terms — nothing moves, and you have no estimate of when it ends. But ground stops tend to be shorter (30 minutes to a few hours) and when they lift, operations resume relatively quickly.
A ground delay program can technically be worse for individual travelers. A 4-hour GDP at SFO might mean your specific flight is delayed longer than a 90-minute ground stop at JFK. GDPs also compound — if you're connecting through a GDP airport, your connection window shrinks.
The real damage happens when one follows the other, or when multiple GDPs run simultaneously. Friday night's November 13 event started with ground stops at two airports, then cascaded into GDPs at four more, then departure delays at two major hubs. That cascading pattern — not any single stop or delay — is what creates multi-day recovery problems.
What to do in either case
The playbook is the same:
1. Don't cancel your flight. Wait for the airline to act.
2. If your flight is cancelled or delayed 3+ hours domestically, you're entitled to a cash refund under DOT rules.
3. Monitor your airline app for rebooking options.
4. Check live delay status to see if your airport is affected.
For the full breakdown of your rights, see the passenger rights guide.