American Airlines' planes sit last week at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport during flight delays unrelated to furloughs. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)
As many as nine flights were diverted today from the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Dallas Love Field because of weather and staffing issues related to automatic federal spending cuts, the Federal Aviation Administration said today.
A cold front that moved through the Dallas-Fort Worth area this morning also brought a change in wind direction, rain and mist, an FAA spokesman said. That required the D/FW Airport to ?put some airplanes into holding patterns while we switched the direction that planes land and take off.?
Update at 1:30 p.m.: American Airlines, American Eagle and United Airlines decided to divert some inbound flights to Dallas Love Field, said airport spokesman David Magana. Those flights parked at Love Field or refueled, but he didn?t know for how long.
Update at 2 p.m.: American said it diverted a handful of flights to Dallas Love Field today due to air traffic control issues at D/FW Airport. None of the American or American Eagle planes were sitting on the tarmac for more than three hours, which would trigger a fine under new consumer rules, said Matt Miller, a spokesman for Fort Worth-based American.
Update at 2 p.m.: ?On the whole, we aren?t experiencing any significant issues beyond normal ground-delay programs,? Miller said.
Update at 1:30 p.m.: All of those diverted flights returned to the D/FW Airport as of 12:30 p.m. today., Magana said.
Travelers at airports around the country have experienced flight delays since Sunday, when the FAA planned to start furloughing air traffic controllers every one day out of 10 as part of $85 billion in federal spending cuts this year. The FAA said about 10 percent of controllers at any facility are on furlough each day.
The FAA warned that air travelers could see a wide range of delays depending at U.S. airports because of employee furloughs.
The D/FW Airport and Dallas Love Field were not among airports where the FAA expected to see serious delays on a daily basis, but the agency said delays still could affect flight schedules depending on the time of day, the weather and traffic conditions at other airports.
In addition to the D/FW Airport, the FAA said staffing challenges created flight delays today at airports in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The agency also expects delays at Newark and LaGuardia because of weather and wind.
The FAA said it will continue to work with the airlines throughout the day to minimize delays for travelers. It encourages passengers to check their flight status and to the FAA?s up-to-date airport delay information online.
The FAA attributed more than 1,200 flight delays nationwide yesterday to staffing shortages, but more than 1,400 flights also were delayed due to weather or other factors.
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