El Paso International Airport
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The Federal Aviation Administration abruptly grounded all flights in and out of El Paso International Airport in Texas on Wednesday for 10 days — and then lifted the order hours later — over anti-drone technology the Department of Defense was testing, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The two agencies were scheduled to discuss safety precautions later this month, but the Department of Defense sought to use the technology earlier the person said. The FAA closed airspace early Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Trump administration official said the Department of Defense disabled Mexican cartel drones that had breached U.S. airspace. The Pentagon declined to provide further detail, including about the possible wreckage of the drone.
The Trump administration said there was no threat to commercial air travel currently.
The airport sits next to Biggs Army Airfield and is near the Mexican border, about 12 miles from Juarez, Mexico.
A person briefed on the matter earlier Wednesday said that the Department of Defense was testing laser counter-drone technology.
The FAA initially halted flights in El Paso until late Feb. 20 and the ban applied to a 10-nautical-mile area around the airport. The FAA hadn’t immediately disclosed the security reasons for the temporary sudden halt or why it was set for so long.
Security personnel outside El Paso International Airport after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lifted its temporary closure of the airspace over El Paso, saying all flights will resume as normal and that there was no threat to commercial aviation, in El Paso, Texas, U.S., February 11, 2026.
Jose Luis Gonzalez | Reuters
While the FAA regularly halts flights at airports for weather, traffic or even rocket launches, a security issue is highly unusual, as is announcing such a long effective airspace closure.
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson called the temporary grounding a “major and unnecessary disruption” and called for better communication from the federal government.
Lawmakers question disruption
Some lawmakers criticized the Trump administration for how the sudden order played out.
Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington, the ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Rep. André Carson of Indiana, ranking member of the subcommittee on aviation, called it “unacceptable.”
“While we’re not happy with the disruption, we commend the FAA for taking swift action to protect travelers and ensure the safety of U.S. airspace,” they said in a joint statement. “We look forward to pursuing a bipartisan solution that strengthens interagency coordination and ensures that the Department of Defense will not jeopardize safety and disrupt the freedom to travel.”
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat whose district includes much of El Paso, said the move to suddenly close airspace was “unprecedented.”
“There was no advance notice provided to my office, the City of El Paso, or anyone involved in airport operations,” she said in a statement.
Nearly 3.5 million passengers passed through the airport in the first 11 months of 2025 and it is served by Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Frontier Airlines, according to airport data.
There were 1,314 departures scheduled for the El Paso airport this month, according to aviation data firm Cirium, including about 40 departures on Wednesday.
Southwest has 23 flights scheduled at the airport Wednesday, out of more than 3,000 systemwide. The airline said Wednesday it is resuming operations to and from El Paso and encouraged travelers to check its website for updated information.
“Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of its Customers and Employees,” it said.
United said it didn’t cancel any flights and that it canceled an earlier travel waiver.