Nearly 600 flights delayed after a fire at Dallas Fort Worth Airport
>
Flight chaos in Texas after Dallas Fort Worth Airport delayed 737 planes over fuel pump fire
- A fire broke out at a fuel pump at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport Friday morning
- A ground stop affecting inbound flights was issued but was lifted at 12:38 PM CET
- The airport is a hub for American Airlines and its subsidiaries
- SkyWest had the most cancellations, 15, while American only had to cancel 5 flights
- Dallas-Fort Worth is the second busiest airport in the world by passenger volume
A fire at a fuel pump at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport has caused all inbound flights to be suspended on Friday morning, causing nearly 750 flights to be delayed.
More than 400 of those flights were operated by American Airlines – which uses the airport as a major hub.
Nearly all flights scheduled to land at the airport before 1 p.m. CT were diverted, but a ground stop was lifted around 12:22 p.m.
Airport air traffic control issued a message just before 11 a.m. that the fuel system was “offline” due to the fire.
Those fuel lines had to be inspected to make sure they were safe, meaning planes at the airport were unable to refuel, leading to a nationwide shutdown issued by the FAA.
According to FlightAware data, the number of delayed flights jumped from less than 300 to more than 500 in minutes on Friday morning.
American Airlines today canceled 64 flights to, from or through Dallas-Fort Worth.
Sky West was the next most affected airline. 73 were delayed and 15 were cancelled.
American Airlines planes are seen at the gates of Terminal C at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
A map showing flights around the airport at 12:20 a.m. CT – delays impacted more than 300 American Airlines flights. All flights landing on DFW before 1pm CT were diverted
The ground stop was issued on Friday morning after a fire at a fuel pump
An FAA spokesperson said the fire started at the fuel farm on the west side of the airport.
DFW Airport is a hub for flights operated by American Airlines and its subsidiaries.
The airline said in a statement: “The issue has been resolved and our team is working to minimize disruption to our operation and customers.”
In 2019, American Airlines said it operates more than 900 daily flights from the airport. Those flights serve 224 destinations in 30 countries.
The airline also employs more than 33,000 people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
DFW Airport saw more than 62.5 million passengers in 2021, making it the second busiest in the world in terms of passenger volume, the airport says on its website.
DFW air traffic control issued a message just before 11 a.m. that the fuel system was ‘offline’ and was being inspected due to the fire