Focus is directed toward the issue of large-scale flight delays, and the correlations and hierarchical coupling among the influencing factors are to be revealed. Four primary factors were identified, and twenty-one secondary factors were further recognized. The adjacency matrix was constructed by the Delphi method to determine the causal relationships among factors. On this basis, SNA (social network analysisand) the NK model were applied. A directed network of delay factors was built, and the structural characteristics and multi-level coupling relationships were analyzed. The strength of associations and the degree of hierarchical coupling were quantified. The results show that the network of influencing factors has significant multi-level coupling. Human-machine coupling is the most intensive. Environmental factors play a global driving role, and management factors mainly undertake cross-level coordination. By combining SNA and the NK model, the key influencing factors are ranked through integrated calculations of network indicators and hierarchical coupling. The findings provide a quantitative basis for control and recovery strategies of large-scale flight delays.