The Federal Aviation Administration is metering arrivals into Harry Reid International Airport tonight for thunderstorms, with an official average delay of 46 minutes and a maximum of 142. ATCSCC Advisory 141 keeps the ground delay program in force for arrivals estimated through 10:59 p.m. Eastern, which is 7:59 p.m. in Las Vegas.
If you are flying to LAS from the contiguous United States tonight, do not leave for the origin airport until the airline app shows a current departure time. A green board in Dallas, Denver, or Chicago is not proof that Harry Reid is taking airplanes at a normal rate.
- Airport: Harry Reid International (LAS).
- Window: Arrivals estimated 7:00 p.m. through 10:59 p.m. ET.
- Official delay: Average 46 minutes, maximum 142.
- Who is held: All contiguous U.S. departures into Las Vegas.
- Action: Recheck the airline app before you leave the origin.
What the Las Vegas program is doing
A ground delay program is not a ground stop. Harry Reid stays open, but the command center assigns later departure times at origin so the Strip-side airport does not accept more arrivals than the storms will let it land.
Those assigned times are Expect Departure Clearance Times, or EDCTs. The airline usually burns the hold at the gate or just after pushback, which is why a traveler sitting in Phoenix can wait 46 minutes while airplanes are still landing on the Las Vegas valley floor.
The FAA’s own LAS status board is the other half of that picture. Airborne arrival delays can stay short while origin holds stay long. If you are already in the air toward LAS, the 46 minute average is not a circling forecast. If you have not left the origin, the 46 minute average is the number that should change when you walk out the door.
The 46 minute average is the live control number, not a rumor from a gate agent.
Advisory 141 uses UDP delay assignment and lists a program rate that steps down from 44 arrivals an hour to 40, then 36. That declining rate is a late-aircraft revision, not a promise that the evening is getting easier. The comments line says the command center released flights on new EDCTs and added 40 minutes after aircraft arrived late into the program.
Who is inside the Harry Reid hold
The program covers all contiguous U.S. departures headed to Las Vegas. Unlike tonight’s Denver advisory, this one names no Canadian airports.
Southwest carries a large share of LAS flying, so many of the held banks sit on Southwest metal. Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant, Delta, United, American, and Alaska flights from the lower 48 are inside the same FAA list. The program does not exempt one carrier.
If you are on Southwest tonight, the app and the Rapid Rewards change path are the first checks, not the origin airport monitor. Same rule for every other carrier on the list: the airline owns the new departure time.
Flights that start in Hawaii, Mexico, or Canada sit outside this advisory’s contiguous-U.S. scope. That is not a guarantee they will run on time. Storms over the valley can still slow the ramp, the taxiways, and the next outbound bank those airplanes need.
This is also not Sunday’s wind file. Deep Arrival already covered the August 9 Harry Reid wind ground delay. August 12 is a new advisory, a new cause, and a new set of assigned times.
How tonight’s numbers were revised
The opened advisory is a revision, not the first draft of the evening. The comments say the command center rewrote the rates because of late aircraft, then released flights onto new EDCTs with a plus-40 minute adjustment.
That matters if you already saw an earlier departure time. The first EDCT is not the last EDCT. Refresh the airline app after 7 p.m. Eastern even if you already checked once at dinner.
The arrival window now runs from 7:00 p.m. through 10:59 p.m. Eastern, which is 4:00 p.m. through 7:59 p.m. Pacific. The cumulative program period started a little earlier, at 5:39 p.m. Eastern, so some flights were already inside the hold before the revised rates posted.
A 142 minute maximum is the worst assigned time in the current table, not the typical wait. Families on a last evening arrival into LAS should plan against that tail. A missed last inbound is a Strip hotel night you did not budget, or a missed show you already paid for.
The FAA LAS status page is the public board for whether a traffic-management program is still listed. Pair it with the airline app and, once you are on the ground, the airport’s own Harry Reid flights board. Do not use a third-party map as the only source.
What to do before you leave the origin
Open the airline app and look for a new departure time or an EDCT note. If the time has moved, rebuild the rest of the night around that time, not around the 2 p.m. schedule you screenshot this morning.
Give yourself a parking-garage rule. If the app still shows the original time and Advisory 141 is still live, wait 10 minutes and refresh once more before you leave. Programs get revised. Walking into security on a number that just died is how people spend two hours at the wrong gate in Phoenix.
If you are picking someone up at Harry Reid, stay in the cell-phone lot until the inbound has a gate. The D-gate curb is a poor place to idle through a bank that is still being metered from Los Angeles, Dallas, or Denver.
Bags follow the airplane. A checked bag on a delayed inbound can miss a tight LAS connection even if you sprint the D concourse. If the connection is under 70 minutes tonight, ask the airline to rebook before you leave the origin.
Airport pickup has the same problem in reverse. A passenger whose origin sat 46 minutes can land close to the 7:59 p.m. Pacific cutoff and still need time to taxi, deplane, and walk out. Do not treat the scheduled arrival as a curb time.
Shows, hotels, and the last bank into Vegas
Las Vegas is a last-bank airport. An 46 minute hold on a 5 p.m. Pacific departure can erase a 9 p.m. show or a same-night hotel check-in that the resort will not hold. Rebook the show or call the hotel before you leave the origin if the inbound is the last legal arrival.
Southwest and Spirit both sell a lot of same-day connections over LAS. If your itinerary has two Las Vegas flights tonight, protect the second one first. The first flight can be late and still useful if the second has been moved. The first flight is wasted if the second has already gone.
If you are staying on the Strip after a late inbound, Deep Arrival’s Las Vegas things to do page is the wrong tool for the delay itself. Use it only after you know you will actually arrive. The delay decision is the airline app, not a restaurant list.
This program is not the Denver thunderstorm file published earlier tonight. Denver’s advisory covers DEN arrivals, including some Canadian cities. Harry Reid’s advisory covers LAS arrivals from the lower 48 only. If you are flying DEN to LAS tonight, you can sit inside both programs on one ticket. Check both legs.
If you are not traveling tonight, do nothing.
| If you | What to do |
|---|---|
| Are flying to LAS from the lower 48 tonight | Refresh the airline app and wait for a current departure time before you leave home. |
| Have a tight connection through Harry Reid | Rebook now if the next legal flight is the last bank. A 46 minute hold can erase it. |
| Are on DEN to LAS tonight | Check both advisories. You can sit inside two ground delay programs on one ticket. |
| Are picking someone up at LAS | Wait in the cell-phone lot. Use the new arrival, not the morning schedule. |
| Arrive after 10:59 p.m. ET | Confirm FAA has not extended the program before assuming the inbound is free. |
- Before you leave: Recheck the airline app for a new LAS-bound departure time.
- On a two-leg ticket: Protect the second LAS flight first if you connect tonight.
- After 10:59 p.m. ET: Treat the program as over only if no new FAA advisory appears.
Recheck the airline app, protect the LAS connection, and do not leave the origin on a dead departure time.
How late is Harry Reid International Airport tonight?
The opened FAA advisory lists a 46 minute average and a 142 minute maximum for arrivals estimated through 10:59 p.m. Eastern, or 7:59 p.m. in Las Vegas. Your airline app has the flight-specific time.
Is this the same as the August 9 Las Vegas wind delay?
No. The August 9 file was a wind program. Tonight’s Advisory 141 is a thunderstorm program with a new average, a new maximum, and a new end time.
Does the Harry Reid delay include Canadian flights?
No. Advisory 141 lists all contiguous U.S. departures and names no Canadian airports. Check your airline if you are arriving from Canada anyway.
Should I still go to the airport if the board looks normal?
Not until the airline app shows a current time. A normal origin board can lag the FAA EDCT by enough to waste a trip through security.
