FAA Grounds North Texas flights

The Federal Aviation Administration suspended all arriving and departing flights from DFW International Airport and Dallas Love Field on Wednesday. The two airports announced the cessation of air traffic on their respective social media channels. The closures were in effect from 3 p.m. to about 5:30 p.m. and were partially due to inclement weather and required sanitation at the FAA’s primary remote operations center for the Fort Worth region, an FAA spokesman said.

The control center employs about 380 air traffic controllers and handles high-level air traffic in multiple states.

Arlene Salac, a spokesman for the FAA, told the Observer in an emailed statement earlier Wednesday that an air traffic control officer at the Fort Worth Air Traffic Control Center tested positive for COVID-19. They had last been to the institution for Christmas.

The spokesperson said that if an affected worker has been in the facility for seven days or less before testing positive for the virus, the agency’s protocols require a level 3 cleaning of all areas where that worker may have been. Cleaning started around 3:45 PM local time.

Because cleaners had to temporarily leave the control room, the FAA declared a ground hold, causing delays and cancellations. Other FAA facilities supported the shutdown and manipulated traffic around affected airspace, Salac said. The cleaning was finished around 5:05 pm so that the flights could continue.

“The FAA takes the safety of its employees and the flying public very seriously,” said the spokesman. “During this event, pilots were always in contact with air traffic control staff, either at Fort Worth Air Traffic Control Center or other air traffic control facilities.”

As of Wednesday evening, Flightaware.com reported hundreds of delays and cancellations in and out of the two airports.