Nearly 600 flights delayed after a fire at Dallas Fort Worth Airport

A fire at a fuel pump at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport has forced it to suspend all inbound flights on Friday morning – causing delays to almost 750 flights. 

More than 400 of those flights were operated by American Airlines – which uses the airport as a major hub.

Nearly all flights due to land at the airport before 1pm CT were diverted but a ground stop was lifted at around 12.22pm.

The airport’s air traffic control put out a notice just before 11am saying that the fuel system was ‘offline’ due to the fire.

Those fuel lines had to be inspected to ensure they were safe, meaning aircraft at the airport were unable to refuel which lead to a nationwide stop issued by the FAA.

The number of delayed flights rose from under 300 to over 500 in a matter of minutes on Friday morning, according to FlightAware data. 

American Airlines cancelled 64 flights going into, out of or through Dallas-Fort Worth today.

Sky West was the next most affected airline. 73 were delayed and 15 were canceled. 

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 12.20pm CT – delays affected more than 300 American Airlines flights. All flights that landed at 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 occurred at the fuel farm on the airport’s west side. 

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 disruptions to our operation and customers.’

In 2019 American Airlines said that it operates more than 900 flights every day out of 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 by passenger volume, the airport says on its website.

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DFW air traffic control put out a notice just before 11am saying that the fuel system was ‘offline’ and being inspected due to the fire