More Than 1,800 Flights Delayed At 2 Dallas Airports Due To Communication Disorders

ILLUSTRATION OF UNSPLASH/Joshua Hanson

JAKARTA - More than 1,800 flights were delayed and hundreds were canceled at two airports in the Dallas region of the United States (US) on Friday, after telecommunications disruption prompted the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to issue an operational shutdown.

The FAA said flight traffic was slowing down due to reports of problems with local phone company equipment that did not involve FAA equipment.

"FAA is working with the phone company to determine the cause," the agency said.

FAA halted departure to Dallas Fort Worth until 23.00 local time and to Dallas Love Field until at least 20.45 local time

FlightAware said airlines had canceled 20% of their flights in Dallas.

American Airlines canceled more than 200 flights and delayed more than 500 flights, nearly all of which were linked to Dallas telecommunications disruptions -- impacting a quarter of its schedule.

Southwest Airlines has delayed more than 1,100 flights, or 27% of its schedule, according to FlightAware, which tracks flights.

The FAA has faced many communication problems this year.

On Thursday, the FAA slowed flights to Denver International Airport due to automation issues between Denver's approximation control tower and air traffic control requiring manual handover procedures for flights, causing an average delay of 30 to 45 minutes.

A series of issues involving an aging US air traffic control system prompted Congress in July to provide an initial $12.5 billion to overhaul the system, which FAA leaders say is experiencing technical problems almost every day.

The FAA's air traffic control network issues have been going on for years, but a series of accidents included in January between US Army helicopters and American Airlines regional jets that killed 67 people, sparking public concern.