The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shared data surrounding delays and its busiest days of the year from 2025.
According to the following chart by the FAA, 62.5% of delays in 2025 were weather-related, followed by volume at 14.3%, such as tight airport or airspace volume.
A further 14.1% of delays were related to staffing and other causes, 7.9% from runway related causes, and 1% from equipment issues.
Air traffic control: 2025 brought further attention to air traffic control staffing and equipment issues, particularly surrounding Newark Airport and the longest government shutdown in history.
In May, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a new “state-of-the-art” system with plans to overhaul the current ancient air traffic control equipment.
In the meantime, the government shutdown in October and November placed further strain on an already severely understaffed industry sector. The shutdown had caused some of the worst delays of the year, as the FAA cut airspace capacity to make up for the lack of air traffic controllers and maintain a safe NAS.
Summer weather: Weather-related irregular operations weren’t an uncommon sighting in 2025, especially during the summer. Thunderstorms across the country seemed like a daily occurrence at times.
Several notable events, such as a hailstorm in Atlanta in late June or the many storms in the New York City area in July had passengers stuck on taxiways for long periods of time.
I was involved in one major weather disruption this year. Fortunately, I had played the right cards when I saw the weather worsening, and I voluntarily deplaned, cancelled my flight, and took the train instead to my destination. Read about that adventure here.
Meanwhile, Americans kept on traveling. Thursday, July 17, was the busiest with 56,676 total flights, followed by Thursday, July 24, and Thursday, August 14.
Separately, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) broke its single-day record for most passengers screened this year on Nov. 30, at over 3.1 million.
In the coming days, the FAA forecasts that Jan. 2 will be the busiest travel day for New Year’s, with 47,279 flights scheduled to fly.
The administration urges passengers to arrive at airports with ample time and check your flight status.
Featured image by the author.
