Overview

• Investigators say two fiber-optic cables cut by a telecom contractor severed primary and backup links to the Dallas TRACON, forcing a five-hour ground stop at DFW and Dallas Love Field.
• The FAA and American Airlines fault L3Harris for redundancies that did not work, Frontier attributes the outage to a third-party crew cutting its lines, and L3Harris cites years of underinvestment.
• American reports more than 1,000 flights delayed or canceled and at least 10,000 customers affected, with only nine departures from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday versus roughly 100 per hour in normal operations.
• The FAA says the breakdown highlights aging analog telecom still in use and plans to tighten contractor oversight and test backup systems more frequently.
• Congress has approved new funding for ATC upgrades and L3Harris says legacy TDM circuits will be replaced nationwide by the end of 2027, while formal investigations into responsibility continue.