TEXAS — Hundreds of people in Texas are still confused about the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) shutdown of airspace over El Paso on Wednesday. The FAA originally announced a 10-day closure of airspace, citing security concerns, but lifted that order a few hours later. Still, those few hours of shutdown were enough to cause cancelations and leave passengers scrambling to figure out their next move.
According to a spokesperson at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, there was one delay and one cancelation because of the shutdown. However, most of the impact was felt in the Dallas metro area, with a handful of delays and cancelations. At Dallas’ Love Field Airport, flights were nearly all back on track by Wednesday afternoon, but city leaders in El Paso said long-lasting effects highlight a more serious issue.
“Medical evacuation flights were forced to divert to Las Cruces,” said Renard Johnson, the mayor of El Paso.
Johnson called the closure an unnecessary distraction that led to more than just unhappy passengers.
“I don’t know the exact number of flights, but I can tell you that there was a lot of surgical equipment that was coming in from Dallas and other parts of the country to do surgeries here in our community,” said Johnson.
Spectrum News reached out to the University Medical Center of El Paso. A spokesperson released the following statement:
“As with any situation or emergency, UMC was prepared to continue providing patient care for our community during the Federal Aviation Administration’s temporary grounding of all flights in El Paso, which included air medical services. After midnight, when UMC became aware of the temporary closure of airspace in El Paso through local news reports, conversation amongst several El Paso hospital CEOs began to determine what the impact would be and how we could assist each other through what was initially reported to last 10 days. During the temporary grounding, UMC remained fully operational and did not experience issues with transfers via air medical services, but was prepared nonetheless to respond by other means, if it became necessary. Capacity, staffing, critical supply levels, and contingency protocols remained at the forefront to ensure patient safety while air transport was unavailable. Coordination was maintained with our healthcare partners, as well as Emergency Medical Services. As the region’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, we at UMC pride ourselves in the safety protocols, routine drills and continuity of care plans that are in place to ensure we have an adequate supply of medical equipment and resources to continue providing the uninterrupted patient care our region depends on.”