Hundreds of flights in and out of Dallas were delayed or canceled Friday as
telecommunications eq
uipment issues disrupted one of the nation’s busiest airports, federal officials said
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was slowing flights at
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport because of a “reported local telephone company equipment issue.” The
same problems were
also impacting Dallas Love Field, according to the agency, which sai
d the issue did not involve FAA equipment.
According to FlightAware, as of late Friday afternoon, nearly 70
0 flights in and out of DFW Airport were delayed while about 200 cancele
d. About 160 flights were delayed in and out of Love Field while one fli
ght was canceled.
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A spokesperson for Love Field said they were in “constant communica
tion” with partners including the FAA as they “work to manage the sit
uation and minimize disruptions.” DFW Airport said on the social p
latform X that the FAA was managing the air traffic delays in the area.
As of late Friday afternoon, departures from Love Field were delayed
by an average of about 30 minutes, according to the FAA website. At D
FW Airport, a ground stop was in place for American Airlines and
flights on other airlines were being delayed by over an hour.
All flights were stopped at both airports for more than an hour.
American Airlines said on X that the FAA had reported “an issue involving the telecommunicatio
ns provider for the air traffic control facility that oversees the airspace in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.”
The FAA said the problems in Dallas weren’t linked to the aging equipment that air traffic controllers rel
y on or the nationwide shortage of controllers that both combined
to disrupt flights at Newark Liberty International Airport earlier this year. The federal government is now working to overh
aul the technology after Congress approved $12.5 billion and hire thousan
ds more controllers but both efforts will likely take years to complete.