Equipment Issues Delay Hundreds of Flights at Dallas and Denver Airports

The FAA has reported significant equipment outages affecting air traffic control operations at two major U.S. airports, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Denver International Airport (DIA), causing widespread flight delays. In Dallas, a failure at the Dallas TRACON has resulted in the loss of radar and communications, leading to a ground stop of all arrivals and departures, with delays averaging over two hours and peaking at more than seven hours. The issue at Dallas TRACON is under investigation, and this outage disrupted both Dallas Love Field and DFW operations, major hubs for Southwest Airlines and American Airlines, respectively. Meanwhile, at Denver, an equipment problem in the TRACON's automation system has forced controllers to manually manage flight transitions, causing delays of 30 to 45 minutes on hundreds of flights. The FAA has not disclosed the causes or resolution timelines for either situation, advising travelers to check with airlines for updates. These incidents underscore vulnerabilities in air traffic control technology that can have substantial impacts on national air travel.