Flight Delays Top 374 as Western Weather Snarls U.S. Airports

A quiet day by recent standards, but cancellations are up

It wasn't a meltdown, but the trend matters. As of 9:44 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, October 28, flight tracker FlightAware counted at least 374 delayed flights into or out of the United States and more than 7,143 delays worldwide.1 The same count showed 59 U.S. cancellations and 558 worldwide.114

The syndicated reports carrying these numbers disagree with each other about the day. The story text says the disruptions happened "Monday," while the photo caption and the publication date point to Wednesday.417 Going by the timestamps, the snapshot is from Wednesday morning, and the "Monday" reference looks like leftover template text. Readers following these daily tallies should keep that in mind. The same outlets publish one nearly identical story every day, which helps for tracking trends but invites copy-and-paste mistakes.38

The reported cause is ordinary weather. The Federal Aviation Administration said low clouds could affect flights at San Diego and Seattle, and wind could cause delays at Las Vegas.114 No major storm or nationwide outage was reported.

Fewer delays than earlier in the week, but more cancellations

Against the rest of the week, Wednesday's delay count is low. On Tuesday, October 27, FlightAware showed 462 U.S. delays and 32 cancellations shortly before 10 a.m. Eastern.820 By 11 a.m. that day the count had grown to 784 delays, while cancellations stayed at 32.1219 Tuesday's problems were also cloud-related: the FAA flagged low ceilings at Denver, Seattle and San Diego and warned of possible ground stops or delay programs at all three.11

The interesting number is the cancellation count. Wednesday had fewer delays than Tuesday at a similar hour, but nearly twice as many cancellations: 59 versus 32.18 A morning snapshot can't explain why. Still, more cancellations on a day with fewer delays fits a common pattern: when clouds or wind cut how many arrivals an airport can accept, airlines often cancel some flights early rather than let delays build. That reading is an inference, not something the reports confirm.

The previous week was much worse. On October 22, at least 1,059 U.S. delays and 58 cancellations were recorded by mid-morning, with the FAA citing wind in Boston and the New York airports, thunderstorms in Phoenix, and rain across much of California and Las Vegas.15 One travel outlet put that week's nor'easter at 3,163 cancellations in a single day.11 On October 23, a combination of Pacific cloud cover, Midwest congestion and FAA flow controls produced 3,287 delays and 121 cancellations by mid-afternoon, according to one analysis.13 That analysis said Southwest had 877 delays that day, more than American and United put together. Austin had average ground delays of 75 minutes, and San Francisco's arrival delays reached 57 minutes because of marine-layer clouds.13

Seattle keeps coming up. Its runway 16C/34C is reportedly closed through November 15, which means any cloud cover hits an airport that is already short on capacity.11

Why moderate disruption still matters

It would be easy to call 374 delays background noise. The reporting suggests the real issue is how little slack the system has. Planes and crews fly several legs a day, so a delay at a hub in the morning can spread across the network by afternoon.12 The October 23 analysis described how gates at O'Hare filled with held departures, leaving arriving planes waiting on taxiways and pushing some crews past their federal duty-time limits.13

All of this is happening as the holiday season approaches with high prices. Thanksgiving airfares were reported at their highest level in a decade.1115 Frontier, the largest U.S. budget airline, reported a 71% increase in airfare for the third quarter and blamed rising jet fuel costs.910 Travelers paying more will be less forgiving when flights are disrupted, and more likely to push for the refunds they are owed.

Labor tension: pickets in the U.S., strikes abroad

No strike caused Wednesday's numbers, and none of the reports links the delays to labor action. But labor disputes are building in the U.S. ahead of the holidays. On October 26, Frontier flight attendants held a rally outside Philadelphia International Airport. They are demanding a contract with livable wages and say management has refused to address their priorities and delayed negotiations.30 On October 14, flight attendants at Horizon Air, which is owned by Alaska Air Group, held a system-wide day of action calling for what their union described as a long-overdue living-wage contract.21

Pickets are not strikes. Under U.S. labor law, airline walkouts are rare and slow to happen. The more realistic near-term risks are morale problems and public pressure during the busiest weeks of the year, not mass cancellations.

Europe is a different story. Strike notices there regularly become actual cancellations. Coverage this month tracked easyJet actions in France, Portugal and Italy, plus a five-union national notice for French flight crews from October 17 to 21.24 That French notice was suspended on October 9 after progress on the pension dispute behind it.2227 Italy also had an easyJet cabin crew strike and a four-hour air traffic control stoppage on October 16, with a national general strike planned for October 30.23 In the UK, Unite opened a strike ballot of more than 60 Loganair cabin crew that closed October 27. Loganair says it does not expect its services to be affected.2528

The difference matters for compensation. Under EU rules, a strike by an airline's own staff generally does not count as an extraordinary circumstance, so affected passengers may be entitled to cash payments. A strike by outside air traffic controllers usually does count, which removes compensation but keeps rights to rebooking and care.2324 U.S. passengers have no comparable compensation system.

Security lines: calm now, after a rough spring

Airport security did not contribute to Wednesday's problems, and recent wait-time data looks manageable. One analysis of the 50 busiest U.S. airports put the average TSA wait at 9.9 minutes, with San Antonio fastest at 3.7 minutes.37 Among the ten busiest airports, JFK averaged 23.1 minutes and O'Hare 20.2, while San Francisco averaged 4.5 minutes.33 PreCheck is the safest bet: one report cited data showing 99% of PreCheck passengers waited less than ten minutes.34

The spring was a reminder of how quickly that can change. In March, staffing shortages tied to a partial government shutdown produced security lines nearly three hours long at some major airports, according to the Department of Homeland Security, with long waits reported in Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta and Charlotte.36 Houston data showed waits of up to two hours at several terminals.37

The TSA is now testing redesigned PreCheck lanes with eGates and body scanners at seven undisclosed airports, with completion targeted for mid-November.31 Thanksgiving week will test them. The busiest day ever at U.S. checkpoints was the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2025, when 3,134,613 people were screened.32

What passengers are owed

U.S. passengers mainly have a right to their money back, not to compensation. Under the Department of Transportation's automatic refund rule, a canceled flight, or a significant change such as arriving three or more hours late on a domestic trip or six hours on an international one, entitles you to a cash refund if you decline the rebooking and any voucher.4244 Credit card refunds are due within seven business days; other payment methods within 20 calendar days.4144 The cause of the cancellation does not matter, including weather.4144 Fees for checked bags delayed more than 12 hours on domestic flights are also refundable.42

The main way passengers lose this right is by accepting a voucher or rebooking, which ends the refund claim.44 The rule also does not require airlines to cover meals, hotels or lost time. Those depend on each airline's published commitments, which the DOT can enforce.41 In July, the department said it would not enforce the refund requirement when an airline only renumbers a flight that otherwise operates without a significant change.45 One outlet reports that regulators are considering EU-style delay compensation, but nothing has been adopted.48

A Wednesday with 374 delays is not a crisis. Combined with high fares, labor disputes and a record holiday season ahead, though, it suggests travelers should know their refund rights before they book.