Dallas Airports Closed as Radar, Radio Failures Trigger FAA Ground Stops

Dallas closed both of its major airports on Friday through at least 5 p.m. CT after an equipment issue at the Dallas Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) disrupted radar and radio communications, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to issue ground stops at Dallas Love Field (DAL) and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) along with several nearby air traffic control facilities. The outages sent ripples through the region’s travel network, with more than 3,000 flights delayed and a broad range of disruptions affecting arrivals and departures during a peak travel period.

The FAA said in a statement that flights into Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International were being slowed because of a reported equipment issue at Dallas TRACON. 'We’ve lost all radar and phone communications,' the controller in the Dallas Love Field tower said in audio recorded by LiveATC.net. 'I’m not departing anybody until we can get a system set up. We have no coms with the approach right now.' The remarks underscored the severity of the outage and the challenge of restoring normal operations amid a complex air-traffic control network that serves one of the nation’s busiest aviation hubs.

Dallas Love Field serves more than 16 million passengers annually, averaging about 44,000 travelers per day, while Dallas/Fort Worth International handles roughly 189,000 daily. The Terminal Radar Approach Control facility is responsible for managing arrivals and departures at the two airports, and officials said the outage affected multiple facilities in the regional air-traffic system, compounding the disruption as crews attempted to diagnose and repair the fault. The scale of the disruption made even late-morning departures in the region uncertain, with airlines scrambling to rebook passengers, reroute flights, and accommodate crews operating under revised schedules.

With the two major hubs offline, travelers faced long lines, cancellations, and diversions across the region as airlines recalibrated schedules and ground crews reassessed operations. Airports in the Dallas–Fort Worth area issued advisories urging travelers to check with their carriers for the latest status, to arrive early for security screening, and to prepare for possible changes to itineraries. The FAA and airport operators said they would provide updates as information became available and as technicians worked to restore radar, communications, and air-traffic controls to full functionality.

The incident is being treated as a developing situation, with officials emphasizing that service restoration will depend on stabilizing the hardware and communications links at Dallas TRACON and the affected facilities. While there is no immediate timetable for full restoration, authorities indicated that the ground stops would remain in place until the systems could be verified as safe and reliable for routine operations. Travelers and industry observers will be watching closely for subsequent notices from the FAA and the airlines as assessments continue and plans are adjusted to minimize further disruption.