What causes flight delays
Weather, ATC, crew duty, and hub ripple effects — plain-language explanations for travelers.
10 min readRouteWings EditorialAviation & travel desk
The usual suspects
- Weather: low ceilings, thunderstorms, and crosswinds reduce runway capacity.
- ATC flow programs: miles-in-trail restrictions stack delays across regions.
- Crew duty limits: a late inbound crew can legally delay your outbound.
- Hub knock-on: one late bank cascades into missed connections fleet-wide.
What you can do
Monitor your first flight of the day if you have a tight connection. Build 90+ minute domestic-to-international connections at busy hubs when fares allow.