Flights grounded at D.C.-area airport due to security concerns for Iraqi leader
The Iraqi leader was in Washington to meet with President Trump.
Updated on: July 15, 2026 / 12:23 AM EDT / CBS News
Flights were halted at Ronald Reagan National Airport for several hours on Tuesday, leading to over a hundred canceled flights and cascading delays, due to security measures meant to protect the Iraqi prime minister during his visit to Washington, D.C., during the war with Iran, sources familiar with the situation told CBS News.
Commercial flights were postponed from taking off or landing at the D.C.-area airport from 11 a.m. ET until around 3 p.m. Over 300 flights were delayed and at least 126 flights were canceled, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware .
The disruptions took place in one of the most congested and tightly controlled airspaces in the country, where hundreds of daily commercial flights contend with military traffic and snake around federal buildings in Washington and northern Virginia.
White House and Federal Aviation Administration officials shared timing updates during Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's visit in an effort to minimize the impact, a senior administration official said. They allowed some of the planes that were holding in the air to land at DCA and those on the ground to depart, the official said.
Spokespeople for the FAA and Department of Transportation declined to comment.