1,800+ Flights Delayed, Hundreds Cancelled At Dallas Airports In USA Due To Telecom Outage

Flight operations at the two Dallas-area airports–Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field–were disrupted on Friday after a telecom outage forced the FAA to issue ground stops. Passengers experienced delays and cancellations as airlines scrambled to manage the unexpected disruption.

Flights Disrupted At Both Dallas Airports

According to The Economic Times, over 1,800 flights were delayed and hundreds were cancelled at both the Dallas-area airports on September 19. The disruption was caused by a telecommunications outage, and operations were impacted at both Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field.

As per reports, the FAA mentioned that the problem happened because of local telephone company equipment issues unrelated to FAA systems. However, the telecommunications issue created widespread flight schedule disruptions across Dallas airports. The authorities implemented traffic slowdowns after a reported equipment failure at a local telephone company disrupted communications.

Departures to Dallas Fort Worth were put on hold until 11 PM ET. As for Dallas Love Field, departures were delayed until at least 8:45 PM. According to FlightAware, airlines were forced to cancel 20% of flights at Dallas airports during the telecommunications outage.

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Hundreds Of Flights Delayed & Cancelled

Several media reports suggest that more than 1,800 flights were delayed and hundreds were cancelled at the two Dallas airports. American Airlines had to cancel more than 200 flights. The outage also delayed over 500 flights, affecting about a quarter of the airline’s schedule.

Southwest Airlines, reportedly, delayed more than 1,100 flights. As per FlightAware, this made up for the airline’s 27% schedule. Southwest’s Dallas Love Field hub experienced extensive operational challenges. The telecommunication outage triggered widespread disruptions across the national networks of both airlines.

This year has been especially troublesome for the FAA, as they have faced numerous communications issues so far. On Thursday, a day before the Dallas airport telecommunications issue, the FAA slowed flights into Denver International Airport due to automation issues. The problem occurred between the approach control tower and Denver air traffic control. This prompted manual handoff procedures for flights, causing delays averaging 30 to 45 minutes.

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We hope the FAA is able to sort out these issues soon.

Cover Image Courtesy: Canva Pro/Brett Sayles (representative image)