The FAA limited flights on Friday at Dallas airports due to a local telecom issue, causing widespread delays.
DALLAS — Hundreds of flights in and out of Dallas were delayed or canceled Friday as telecommunications equipment issues disrupted one of the nation’s busiest airports, federal officials said
When it comes to flying, Matt Yonchak can’t catch a break.
“Honestly, I have the worst travel luck ever,” said Yonchak, a Dallas Love Field traveler.
Friday was no different for him. “I just kept getting half-hour delays, pretty much every half hour on the half hour from Southwest,” said Yonchak.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said, “The FAA is slowing flights at Dallas Love Field and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport due to a reported local telephone company equipment issue that does not involve FAA equipment. The FAA is working with the telephone company to determine the cause.”
Air Traffic Control communications recorded the moment the issue began.
“The entire metroplex took a hit,” said an official on the recording. “Right now, we’ve lost all radar and phone communications.”
The problem left travelers such as Yonchak waiting.
“A little annoying on a Friday, right? Much rather, you know, be getting on a plane,” said Yonchak.
It was worse for a WFAA employee’s fiancé, Mel Lam. She was stuck in Ohio after her flight to Dallas was cancelled.
“I tried to get a flight even to Austin. I could just drive from there since it’s three hours from Dallas, nothing. Nothing in San Antonio, nothing in Austin, nothing in Tulsa,” said Lam.
WFAA’s Tiffany Liou was at DFW International Airport. She said the ground stop caused many flight delays and cancellations there as well. Many passengers were trying to rebook, but she said it could take days to recover from the situation.
American Airlines said in a statement that travelers who were impacted can rebook without change fees.
“I feel like our technology should be better than what it is right now for this stuff not to happen,” said Lam.
The FAA said the problems in Dallas weren’t linked to the aging equipment that air traffic controllers rely on or the nationwide shortage of controllers, which both combined to disrupt flights at Newark Liberty International Airport earlier this year. The federal government is now working to overhaul the technology after Congress approved $12.5 billion and hire thousands more controllers but both efforts will likely take years to complete.
“Right now, just hoping that the phone company gets their stuff together,” said Yonchak.
According to FlightAware data, more than 550 flights had been delayed at DFW Airport. Check the latest nationwide cancellations and delays by airline, airport destination and airport origin here via FlightAware.