Reduced Visibility From Wildfires Impacting Air Travel

M.C. Millman

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for flights bound for LaGuardia Airport today due to low visibility from Canadian wildfire smoke.

As of 2:48 p.m. today, according to the FAA website, La Guardia Airport, New York, NY (LGA), arriving flights may be delayed an average of 1 hour and 59 minutes.  There is also a departure delay averaging 30 minutes (and increasing) due to low visibility.

Newark International Airport, Newark, NJ (EWR), is currently experiencing delays averaging 1 hour and 22 minutes.

The FAA wrote on Twitter that it "will continue to adjust the volume of traffic to account for the rapidly changing conditions."

NYC's health commissioner,  Ashwin Vasan, said the air quality in the City had reached a historic low. "For a time, yesterday was the worst air quality in New York City since the 1960s."

"This is an unprecedented event in our City, and New Yorkers must take precautions," Mayor Eric Adams said in a briefing over the smoke today.