Southwest, Delta, and Hawaiian Airlines Hit Las Vegas with 55 Flight Delays at Harry Reid International, Disrupting Routes to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and More

Published on May 13, 2026

Las Vegas lives and breathes on the rhythm of its airport. The shows, the conventions, the concert weekends, the spontaneous getaways — they all begin and end at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), one of America's most high-stakes aviation gateways. And today, that rhythm faltered. A total of 55 flight delays have swept through Harry Reid International, affecting 11 different airlines including Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, Korean Air, United Airlines, and more — disrupting hundreds of passengers on routes spanning Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Honolulu, and beyond. While zero flights were cancelled — a detail worth noting — the scale of the delay wave carries real consequences for travelers whose Las Vegas plans, onward connections, and carefully timed itineraries are now up against an operational clock they didn't budget for. Here is the complete, airline-by-airline picture and everything affected travelers need to act on right now.

Quick Summary:

• 55 total flight delays recorded at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), Las Vegas, on May 13, 2026. Zero cancellations.
• Airlines affected: Southwest Airlines (33 delays), Delta Air Lines (6), United Airlines (4), SkyWest (2), Alaska Airlines (2), Frontier Airlines (2), Hawaiian Airlines (2), American Airlines (1), JSX (1), Korean Air (1), Breeze Airways (1).
• Highest delay rate by percentage: Korean Air (50% of operations delayed), Hawaiian Airlines (28%), SkyWest (14%), Breeze Airways (10%).
• Southwest Airlines hardest hit by volume: 33 delays representing 7% of Southwest's LAS operations — the largest single-carrier disruption share.
• Tourism impact: Las Vegas peak season approaching; delays affecting hotel arrivals, event schedules, show attendance, and convention timelines across the Strip.
• No ground stops or ground delay programs currently reported; delays attributed to a combination of operational and volume-related factors.
• Travelers advised to check airline apps for real-time updates and arrive at Harry Reid International with extended buffer time.

The Delay Wave: What 55 Disruptions Actually Mean at America's Entertainment Capital

Zero cancellations sounds like good news. And in one sense, it is.

Unlike the brutal definitiveness of a cancelled flight — where passengers face outright rebooking and extended airport stays — a delay leaves the journey intact, just compressed and stressful. But 55 simultaneous delays across 11 airlines at a single airport create a particular kind of chaos that is, in some ways, harder to manage than a smaller number of outright cancellations.

When dozens of flights are delayed simultaneously at Harry Reid International, the airport's infrastructure — gate assignments, ground crew rotations, baggage handling sequences, and arrival-departure slot management — comes under compound pressure. A flight that arrives 45 minutes late forces a gate that was scheduled to be clear for the next departure to remain occupied. That next departure now pushes back. Its crew's available flight time window compresses. The next flight behind it adjusts. The cascade multiplies.

Las Vegas is not the kind of city where this unfolds quietly. Harry Reid International Airport handled approximately 50 million passengers in its most recent peak years. On any given day, a massive volume of travelers — excited for Vegas debuts, exhausted from convention days, anxious for connecting flights — are depending on its operational efficiency. Today, 55 of those flights are running behind.

Southwest Airlines: The Giant at the Center of the Disruption

Southwest Airlines is, by a considerable margin, the largest carrier at Harry Reid International — and today's disruption data reflects that dominance in every dimension.

Complete Airline Delay Breakdown

Airline	Delayed Flights	Delay as % of Operations
Southwest Airlines	33	7%
Delta Air Lines	6	6%
United Airlines	4	5%
SkyWest	2	14%
Alaska Airlines	2	7%
Frontier Airlines	2	4%
Hawaiian Airlines	2	28%
American Airlines	1	1%
JSX	1	1%
Korean Air	1	50%
Breeze Airways	1	10%
TOTAL	55	—

Southwest's 33 delays represent the most visible element of today's disruption — but they need to be understood in context. Southwest's point-to-point operating model means the airline doesn't use connecting hubs in the traditional sense. Every Las Vegas departure is someone's origin or destination. Every delay is felt directly by passengers at both ends of that route.

With Southwest operating high frequencies between Las Vegas and destinations including Los Angeles, Chicago Midway, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, and dozens of other US cities, 33 delays across its LAS operations creates a ripple that extends across Southwest's entire national network throughout the remainder of the day.

The Percentage Story: Korean Air and Hawaiian Airlines Signal International Pressure

When you look beyond raw delay numbers to delay rates as a percentage of operations, the story at Harry Reid International today becomes significantly more nuanced — and concerning for international and long-haul travelers.

Korean Air recorded a 50% delay rate — the highest single-carrier rate of any airline at LAS today. With limited daily Korean Air operations at Las Vegas, a single delayed flight represents an enormous proportional disruption. For Korean travelers arriving or departing Las Vegas on the carrier's transpacific services, a delay at this percentage level effectively means the route is operating at half-efficiency.

Hawaiian Airlines recorded a 28% delay rate — the second highest. Hawaiian's LAS operations connect Las Vegas to Honolulu and the Hawaiian Islands, serving a steady stream of leisure travelers for whom a flight delay at the start of a Hawaii vacation is a particularly deflating experience. With Hawaiian's tight island-to-island connecting schedules on the other end of the Honolulu arrival, a Las Vegas departure delay can cascade into missed inter-island connections.

SkyWest — which operates regional feed services under multiple major airline brands — recorded a 14% delay rate, reflecting the elevated vulnerability of regional carriers to operational disruptions at busy hub airports.

Breeze Airways (10%) and Alaska Airlines (7%) complete the picture of broader industry-wide pressure at LAS on today's operational day.

Las Vegas Tourism: Why Airport Delays Cut Deeper Here Than Almost Anywhere Else

Las Vegas is not a city where travelers absorb a two-hour delay with equanimity and move on.

The Strip's extraordinary economy depends on time-sensitive itineraries in ways that most US destinations do not. Concert tickets, show reservations, dinner bookings at world-class restaurants, poolside cabana slots, convention keynote sessions, casino resort check-in windows — every element of a Las Vegas visit operates on a schedule that a flight delay compresses, sometimes catastrophically.

A traveler delayed two hours into Las Vegas from Los Angeles doesn't just lose two hours. They potentially lose:

• A dinner reservation at a Michelin-starred restaurant that doesn't hold tables
• Show tickets that have a hard curtain time and no re-admission
• A convention session they traveled specifically to attend
• A hotel check-in window that determines room assignment and upgrade eligibility
• Poolside access limited to afternoon hours that have already closed

For Las Vegas's hotel, restaurant, entertainment, and convention sectors — which collectively represent a multi-billion-dollar economic ecosystem — the ripple effects of 55 delayed arrivals are felt across every establishment on and off the Strip.

Ground Stops and Active Delay Programs: What's Driving the Disruption?

The data available at time of publication does not point to a single dominant cause for today's Las Vegas delay wave. No formal Ground Stop or Ground Delay Program has been identified as the primary trigger.

The operational picture at Harry Reid International — where Southwest's 33 delays and the spread across 11 other carriers reflect simultaneous multi-airline pressure — more closely resembles a volume and sequencing management challenge than a weather-specific event. Peak-period congestion, slot management at a high-frequency airport, and the compounding effects of minor delays cascading across tight turnaround schedules are the most probable drivers.

This analysis is consistent with FlightAware's operational data, from which all figures in this report are sourced.

Guide for Travelers:

• Check your flight status right now via your airline's app — Southwest, Delta, and United all provide real-time push notifications and departure time updates that often precede airport board updates.
• Southwest passengers: Call 1-800-435-9792 or use the Southwest app's "Flight Status" feature. Southwest's open-seating model means rebooking flexibility is somewhat easier than slot-assigned carriers.
• Delta passengers: Use the Fly Delta app or call 1-800-221-1212. Delta's hub connectivity through Los Angeles and Salt Lake City may provide alternative routing options.
• Hawaiian Airlines passengers: Contact Hawaiian at 1-800-367-5320 immediately. With high delay rates, inter-island connection integrity at Honolulu is at risk — advise the airline of any onward connections.
• Korean Air passengers: Contact Korean Air's US reservations at 1-800-438-5000. Transpacific delay recovery options are limited — this requires immediate airline contact.
• Arrive early and stay mobile: Harry Reid International operates at high passenger density during peak afternoon and evening windows. Build a minimum 60-minute buffer beyond your standard check-in time on delay days.
• Las Vegas time recovery tips: Many Strip hotels offer late check-in flexibility, restaurants prioritize walk-in diners on short notice, and most shows offer same-day ticket upgrades. A delayed arrival doesn't have to derail your Vegas experience.
• Travel insurance: If your delay causes missed show tickets, hotel amenities, or booked experiences, travel insurance with trip interruption coverage may provide partial recovery of costs.

Related Travel Guides

• US Flight Chaos: United, Delta, Southwest, and Alaska Cancel 44 Flights and Delay 1,400 More Across America
• IndiGo and SpiceJet Cancel a Dozen Flights Across Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Kochi
• Lufthansa, United, and KLM Trigger Major Disruption Across Frankfurt and Munich

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Las Vegas is a city that was built on the promise that every moment is spectacular, every arrival is an adventure, and every trip is unforgettable. Today's 55 delays at Harry Reid International are an unwelcome interruption to that promise — but not a defeat of it. Southwest, Delta, Hawaiian, Korean Air, and every other carrier caught in today's operational wave are working to get their passengers moving again. The neon is still blazing on the Strip. The shows are still running. The restaurants are still extraordinary. The desert air still carries that particular electric promise that Las Vegas has delivered to the world for generations. Get the flight status update, pack your patience, and hold onto the knowledge that whatever time you lose at the gate, Las Vegas — reliably, magnificently, incomparably — will give back in full once you arrive.

Disclaimer: All flight delay data is sourced from FlightAware's official operational records for Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) on May 13, 2026. All flight status information is subject to real-time change. Travelers must verify current delay status directly with their operating airline before departing for the airport.