Dallas, Texas, USA: A major telecom failure on Friday caused ground stops at Dallas airports, resulting in more than 1,800 delayed flights and hundreds of cancellations. Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines bore the heaviest impact as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigated the issue.
At Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field, air traffic came to a halt after the FAA confirmed the outage stemmed from local telephone company equipment, not from FAA systems. “The FAA is coordinating with the telecom provider to identify the source of the disruption,” the agency announced.
Departures bound for Dallas–Fort Worth were suspended until 11 p.m. ET, while flights into Dallas Love Field were restricted until at least 8:45 p.m. According to FlightAware, approximately 20% of scheduled flights at Dallas airports were scrapped.
American Airlines canceled over 200 flights and delayed more than 500, with most tied directly to the Dallas outage—roughly one-quarter of its entire schedule. Southwest Airlines reported over 1,100 delays, accounting for 27% of its operations, FlightAware data showed.
This latest disruption comes after a series of communication and technology setbacks affecting the FAA throughout the year.
Just a day earlier, flights into Denver International Airport were slowed due to automation problems between a local control tower and Denver’s air traffic center. The glitch forced controllers to handle operations manually, leading to average delays of 30–45 minutes.
Growing concerns about the nation’s aging air traffic system pushed Congress in July to allocate an initial $12.5 billion to modernize the infrastructure. FAA officials have admitted the system faces frequent technical challenges.
For years, the U.S. air traffic control network has been under strain, but a recent string of mishaps—including near-collisions, staff shortages, and a deadly January crash involving a U.S. Army helicopter and a regional American Airlines jet that killed 67—has heightened public concern over aviation safety.
