Over 460 delays at Charlotte airport in wake of strong storm. Ground stop ends

Federal aviation officials grounded flights at Charlotte Douglas International Airport Friday afternoon due to thunderstorms pounding the area. The ground stop was lifted after less than an hour, but delays continued to mount.

As of 5:15 p.m., CLT had more than 460 delays and 12 cancellations, according to the tracking site FlightAware. The Federal Aviation Administration issued the ground stop order from 4:02 p.m. to 5 p.m., according to its National Airspace System Status website.

The FAA advisory was lifted from its website Friday afternoon. However, FlightAware’s Misery Map showed departure delays averaging a little over an hour and rising.

Charlotte Douglas is one of the world’s busiest airports, and a hub for American Airlines.

Severe storms with hail, heavy rain and winds up to 60 mph barreled through the Charlotte region Friday and left at least 21,000 Duke Energy customers without power.

At least 17,000 customers in Charlotte, 3,000 in Gaston County and 1,000 in Fort Mill had no electricity at 4 p.m., the Duke Energy outage map showed.

This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 4:41 PM.

Chase Jordan

The Charlotte Observer

Chase Jordan is a business reporter for The Charlotte Observer, and has nearly a decade of experience covering news in North Carolina. Prior to joining the Observer, he was a growth and development reporter for the Wilmington StarNews. The Kansas City native is a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University.