A string of disruptive weather conditions has forced a ground delay at San Francisco International Airport on the tail end of the holiday weekend. Beginning at 10:45 a.m. Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration enacted a ground stop at SFO caused by low-ceiling clouds. SFO is "dealing with some southwesterly winds which can be impactful as well, but the ground stop is due to low ceilings, so, with that, we are expecting that to persist," National Weather Service forecaster Dalton Behringer told SFGATE.
Departures to LaGuardia (LGA) Airport in New York are experiencing an average delay of over two hours, with some flights being held for nearly four hours. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned that there is up to a 60 percent chance that these delays will be extended. The alert is due to heavy rains and strong winds from the nor' easter hitting the East Coast.
The FAA anticipates that the airport's air traffic control tower will be without staff until 10 p.m. Monday, according to spokesperson Kristen Alsop. The tower was without staff starting at 4:15 p.m. Due to the government shutdown, air traffic controllers are working without pay. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that the FAA was seeing a small uptick in air traffic control workers calling in sick during the shutdown.
'This is a widespread issue affecting multiple departure facilities across the country,' the FAA said, noting that other airports in the network, ranging from ZLA in Los Angeles to ZMP in Minneapolis, are included in the affected routing.
Flights are currently delayed at two New York City area airports on Thursday, according to the FAA. JFK customers face delays of up to 30 minutes for departures, and inbound flights are delayed an average of 2 hours.