Do FAA ground stops and delay programs apply to private jets?

A ground stop does not ask what kind of aircraft you are on. When the FAA stops traffic to an airport, it holds every aircraft that meets the stop’s criteria, and a charter jet flying on an instrument flight plan is one of them. The same is true of a ground delay program, the slower version that hands each flight a departure time instead of stopping it.

That matters more as Thanksgiving approaches. On the morning of November 6, 2026, thunderstorms put JFK and LaGuardia under ground stops, and Travel Market Report noted Teterboro departures running about 15 minutes late. This page sets out what the FAA’s own rules say, where a private flight is treated differently, and the November 2025 order that did single out private flights.

The short version

• Ground stops cover charters. FAA Order JO 7210.3 defines a ground stop as a process that “requires aircraft that meet a specific criteria to remain on the ground”. Part 91 or Part 135 is not one of the criteria.
• Ground delay programs cover them too. A delay program “must be applied to all aircraft departing airports in the contiguous U.S.” within its scope, and each departure gets a departure time (an EDCT).
• The one standing exemption is helicopters, from ground stops called for weather.
• The wait happens where you are. Both programs hold flights at the departure airport, for a problem at the arrival airport.
• The November 2025 shutdown order was different. It barred most Part 91 and Part 135 flights from 12 major airports, including Newark and JFK, for four days. Teterboro was not on that list.

Does an FAA ground stop apply to private jets?

Yes. A ground stop keeps on the ground every flight that falls within its criteria, whatever rule it flies under. FAA Order JO 7210.3, the manual for air traffic facilities, puts it this way in paragraph 18-13-2:

The GS is a process that requires aircraft that meet a specific criteria to remain on the ground.

The criteria are about where a flight is going and where it is coming from, not who operates it. NBAA, the business aviation association, describes a ground stop as an initiative “requiring aircraft that meet specific criteria to remain on the ground at their origination airport”, and says its scope “can be defined by distance, by center, or by tier”. A charter from Teterboro to Chicago, held because Chicago has stopped arrivals, waits on the ramp at Teterboro like an airliner at Newark.

Two more lines from the order explain why a ground stop feels abrupt. “Ground stop(s) (GS) override all other traffic management initiatives.” And “GSs normally occur with little or no warning.” The order describes a local ground stop as one for conditions “not expected to last more than 30 minutes”.

The only exemption written into the ground stop section is for helicopters, which “are exempt from ground stops based on weather unless specifically included”.

What is a ground delay program, and is it different?

A ground delay program meters flights rather than stopping them. Paragraph 18-10-2 describes it as a process “when aircraft are held on the ground in order to manage capacity and demand at a specific location, by assigning arrival slots”. Each flight’s departure time, the EDCT, “is calculated based on the estimated time en route and the arrival slot”.

It applies across the board. Paragraph 18-10-1 says ground delay programs “must be applied to all aircraft departing airports in the contiguous U.S., as well as, from select Canadian airports”, and paragraph 18-10-4 adds that “all departure aircraft will receive an EDCT to the GDP airport”. NBAA’s summary is the same: delay programs “affect all flights within the defined ‘scope’ of the program”.

The two do not mix. NBAA notes that “the terms ‘ground stop’ and ‘EDCT’ should never be used in the same sentence”: a flight under a ground stop has no departure time to aim for until the stop ends.

The table below sets the two programs, and the 2025 emergency order, against each kind of flight.

Is a private flight ever treated differently?

Only at the edges. A flight under visual flight rules can ask to stay outside a ground delay program, but paragraph 18-10-13 leaves that to “the discretion of the terminal facility with the GDP”, and only “if they can be accommodated without additional delay to IFR aircraft”. Charter jets almost always fly on instrument flight plans, so this is rarely an option for them.

The order mentions emergency and MEDEVAC flights as “unusual circumstances” in that same paragraph. Nothing in the ground stop section sets out a priority for charters over airline flights, or the other way round.

Did the 2025 shutdown order ban private jets?

At 12 airports, for four days, mostly yes. During the 2025 government shutdown, the FAA issued an emergency order effective November 7, 2025 that cut airline schedules at high-traffic airports. It said “general aviation operations may also be reduced by up to 10 percent at High Impact Airports, including TEB, HOU, and DAL”. Teterboro was named.

A revised order, effective 6:00 a.m. on November 13, 2025, went further:

Operators of general aviation 14 CFR part 91 aircraft, non-scheduled 14 CFR part 135 aircraft, and 14 CFR part 380 public charter aircraft conducting domestic operations are prohibited from operating at the airports listed in Appendix B except for 14 CFR 121 aircraft; helicopters; aircraft based at the airport in question; aircraft conducting emergency, medical, law enforcement, firefighting, or military operations; or aircraft otherwise authorized by the Air Traffic Control System Command Center.

Appendix B listed 12 airports: Atlanta, Boston, Washington National, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Newark, Houston Intercontinental, JFK, Los Angeles, Chicago O’Hare, Phoenix and Seattle. LaGuardia, Teterboro, Westchester and Republic were not on it. A further order, effective 6 a.m. EST on November 17, 2025, “cancels the prohibition on operations by general aviation 14 CFR part 91 aircraft, non-scheduled 14 CFR part 135 aircraft, and 14 CFR part 380 public charter aircraft at certain airports”.

That order was a response to a staffing emergency, not a standing rule. This office found no similar order in 2026 as of November 10.

What does a ground stop at JFK or LaGuardia mean for a Teterboro flight?

It depends on the program’s scope. A ground stop or delay program is issued for a named airport, and the flights it holds are the ones bound for it within the scope the FAA sets. The advisory for each delay program lists its “Flights Included”, “Scope” and “Exempt Facilities” (paragraph 18-10-6). The FAA has not published a standing rule that ties Teterboro departures to JFK or LaGuardia programs, and we have not found one.

What the November 6 report does show is knock-on delay: with JFK and LaGuardia stopped, Teterboro departures were averaging 15 minutes late. For the airports themselves, see how to choose a private jet airport in New York.

What can you do about a ground stop?

Little about the stop itself; quite a lot about its effects.

1. Check the FAA’s status page. Active ground stops, ground delay programs and delays are listed at nasstatus.faa.gov. Your operator’s dispatch sees the same programs and your EDCT.
2. Build slack into the day. On a thunderstorm or holiday afternoon, a meeting at the other end should not depend on an on-time departure.
3. Know the crew’s limits. A long hold can push a crew toward its duty limits under 14 CFR 135.267; do private jets fly in bad weather? explains what happens then.
4. Know your contract. A ground stop is a delay, not a cancellation, and what you owe or are owed if the trip falls through is set by the charter agreement; see private jet cancellation and deposits.

How Jake works

Jake names the operator and the aircraft in every quote and deals with the certificate holder directly, so on a delay day the conversation is with the people who hold the flight plan.