More than 350 flights at SAN were delayed Friday at the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A ground stop was issued to departing flights through 11:45 a.m., with the probability of that being extended between 30-60%, officials said, but the ground stop expired at about that time.
The FAA pointed to “runway construction” as the cause for the delays, but airport spokeswoman Nicole Hall said it was actually taxiway construction and weather that were responsible.
Regarding that construction, Hall said SAN is expanding its taxiway to give more space to airplanes getting to Terminal 1. She also said weather conditions prompted planes to reverse their normal takeoff and approach directions.
“So, actual weather — wind and weather — was the reason the FAA and the pilots determined it would be better to reverse flight paths,” Hall said, adding that when they swap directions, they have to decrease operations, at least briefly, when the switch is made.
Add to that the fact that arriving flights had to maneuver around the construction, creating additional but minimal impacts, resulting in a domino effect, Hall said.
Departing flights were still being delayed an average of 78 minutes, hours after the ground stop began, the FAA said, with the scope of the ground delay affecting flights all over the country. According to the FAA, 266 flights were listed as delayed at around 11:30 a.m.; three hours later, that number had risen to 321.
By 11 p.m. Friday, there had been a total of 369 delays, flight tracking platform FlightAware shows.
All airlines and all passengers at both terminals were affected. Passengers were being urged to check their flight status before they leave home.