North Texas Airports, Airlines Work to Recover After FAA Computer System Outage

Airports and airlines in North Texas are working to get back on track after the FAA experienced a system outage that left numerous flights delayed or canceled altogether.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all domestic flights across the United States on Wednesday morning amid a computer system outage, and the agency ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures for the several hours as officials worked to repair the system.

The issue with the computer system impacted the agency's ability to issue NOTAMs, a source with knowledge of the situation told NBC News.

According to the FAA website, a NOTAM, otherwise known as a "Notice to Air Missions," contains essential information for personnel involved with flight operations.

The FAA said these notices alert flight personnel of abnormal statuses within the National Airspace System.

The FAA is working to restore its Notice to Air Missions System. We are performing final validation checks and reloading the system now.

Operations across the National Airspace System are affected.

We will provide frequent updates as we make progress.

— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) January 11, 2023

As of 7 a.m., 2,136 Southwest Airlines flights were delayed and 150 flights were canceled, according to the website FlightAware. By 9 a.m. 1,524 flights were delayed and 326 were canceled.

These travel disruptions come after the Dallas-based airline canceled 15,000 flights around Christmas and left holiday travelers stranded.

We're closely monitoring a data issue with the FAA that may impact the start of operations today Jan 11, 2023. Please check your flight status in the Southwest app or on https://t.co/qJUDbsC3g0 for any flight status changes.

— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) January 11, 2023

American Airlines saw 642 flight delays and 169 flight cancellations shortly before 9 a.m.

The Fort Worth-based airline issued a statement on Twitter informing travelers that the airline is monitoring the situation and working to minimize disruptions.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is experiencing a nationwide system outage that affects all airlines. We're closely monitoring the situation and working with the FAA to minimize customer disruptions.

— americanair (@AmericanAir) January 11, 2023

According to FlightAware, 119 flights were delayed out of Dallas Love Field airport and 4 flights were canceled.

At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, 43 flights were delayed and 12 flights were canceled.

The FAA announced in a tweet that the nationwide ground stop had been lifted and normal air traffic operations were gradually resuming shortly before 8 a.m. following the Notice to Air Missions system outage.

According to the FAA, the agency is continuing to look into the cause of the initial outage.

This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.