Global Flight Cancellations and Delays Disrupt Travel

Widespread flight disruptions are affecting thousands of passengers worldwide, with U.S. carriers reporting about 70 cancellations and 2,818 delays, South America recording roughly 56 cancellations and 211 delays, and Asia seeing over 40 cancellations. Regional pockets of disruption include Africa — about 21 canceled flights affecting Cairo, Johannesburg and Nairobi — the Middle East with 19 cancellations and 115 delays, and the Caribbean, where 12 cancellations stranded passengers in Sint Maarten and Sint Eustatius. In Colombia, Avianca canceled roughly 30 flights and posted about 10 delays, drawing regulatory attention to AeroCivil passenger‑rights obligations. Causes vary by region: severe weather (heavy rain, strong winds and hail risk) drove many South American disruptions, while crew and aircraft‑rotation shortfalls, technical problems and unscheduled maintenance affected routes across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The FAA also issued a ground delay at Austin‑Bergstrom — its fifth since the Oct. 1 government shutdown — citing staffing shortages and causing average arrival delays of about 37 minutes.