Topline
Over 5,000 flights in the United States were delayed Sunday, primarily due to inclement weather, as Americans travel following the Independence Day weekend.
Thunderstorms in the Midwest delayed flights at Chicago-O’Hare International Airport.
Key Facts
Travelers at Chicago-O’Hare faced the worst delays Sunday as thunderstorms moved across the region, with the Federal Aviation Administration estimating inbound flight delays could last more than an hour and 15 minutes.
Nearly 800 flights to and from O’Hare were delayed by 5 p.m. EDT on Sunday, according to FlightAware data.
Inbound flights to Reagan Washington International Airport were also delayed by an average of 40 minutes due to staffing shortages, the FAA said in an alert.
The rest of the weekend also saw considerable flight delays across the country, peaking at over 9,100 on the Fourth of July.
Big Number
54,706. That’s how many air travelers the United States saw on Thursday, June 26—the busiest air travel day of the year so far, the FAA reported last week. The agency also predicted busy air travel days for the entire extended holiday weekend, with an expected 51,000 flights on July 3, before Independence Day. The FAA said it was expecting roughly 47,966 flights on Sunday—meaning if these predictions are correct, over 10% of all flights on Sunday were delayed as of early evening.
Surprising Fact
The pace of flights being delayed accelerated throughout Sunday afternoon, according to FlightAware. Flight delays can compound later in the day due to planes not reaching their destinations on time earlier, which is often the case when there is widespread bad weather, with summertime being particularly notorious for the formation of thunderstorms that can disrupt air travel.
