All flights into, out of, and around the El Paso airport have been grounded. Here’s what North Texas-based Southwest and American are saying.
EL PASO, Texas — All flights to and from El Paso have been grounded for at least the next 10 days, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which issued the temporary flight restriction early Wednesday, citing “special security reasons.”
What does this mean for your Southwest or American flight?
While details about the full impact were still emerging Wednesday morning, we’ve reached out to the two major North Texas airlines, Southwest and American, to get more details about what travelers can expect over the next 10 days.
Here’s what Dallas-based Southwest had to say early Wednesday:
“At the direction of the FAA, Southwest has paused all operations to and from El Paso International Airport. We have notified affected Customers and will share additional information as it becomes available. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of its Customers and Employees.”
We’re still waiting on a response from Fort Worth-based American Airlines, although at least one American flight to El Paso was showing as officially canceled out of DFW Airport. More cancellations from all airlines flying to El Paso were expected to follow throughout the day and, presumably, over the course of the 10-day flight restriction.
The total closure of an airspace for a single U.S. city is an extremely rare, if not unprecedented, move by the FAA. The last time U.S. airspace was closed for national security was in the aftermath of 9/11. The FAA also closed airspace in and around New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, but that was due to the impacts and damage from the storm. No clear reason was given for the El Paso airspace closure as of Wednesday morning.