Dallas, May 19, 2026, 14:11 CDT
- Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport saw over 350 flight cancellations after the FAA issued a ground stop linked to thunderstorms.
- Departure delays hit 30 to 44 minutes into early afternoon, but the FAA said delays were starting to ease.
- The disruption is hitting beyond North Texas, since DFW is American Airlines’ top hub and a key connection point.
DFW cancelled 359 flights Tuesday after thunderstorms triggered a ground stop, holding inbound flights at their departure airports. As of early afternoon, 452 flights were delayed at Dallas-Fort Worth International, according to FlightAware.
American Airlines faces tough timing. DFW is its main hub, handling more customers and checked bags every day than any other airport in the airline’s system, the company said in December. Over 30% of its daily connecting passengers and bags run through DFW, according to American.
Weather that hits North Texas can stop more than just a few flights at one airport—it can halt a whole network. American said it runs more than 930 peak daily departures out of DFW, and sometimes thunderstorms mean shutting the airport down until things improve.
FAA said earlier Tuesday that storms could slow planes at Dallas-Fort Worth, Dallas Love Field, Chicago and Tampa. As of 1900 GMT, its DFW status page showed a traffic management program was still running. Gate-hold and taxi waits were down to 30-44 minutes.
FAA put a ground stop at DFW because of thunderstorms, KERA said, with the order set to last until at least noon and more than 300 flight cancellations by 11:30 a.m. The Dallas Morning News later said the stop would hold until at least 2 p.m., with more than 300 flights canceled at DFW by 1:30 p.m.
Thunderstorms caused delays at Dallas Love Field, which is a main hub for Southwest Airlines. The FAA listed departure delays at Love Field between 31 and 45 minutes and rising, while arrivals faced delays of 15 minutes or less.
North and Central Texas will see showers, storms and heavy rain Tuesday as a sluggish cold front rolls through, the National Weather Service’s Fort Worth office said. Isolated damaging wind gusts and large hail could hit along the storm line, according to the agency.
The National Weather Service aviation desk said storms were due at the Dallas-Fort Worth terminal area sometime in the mid or late morning before heading south through the afternoon. Forecast timing was “quite uncertain” for the airspace, according to the agency, making it harder for airline dispatchers to piece schedules back together after a halt. National Weather Service
American has worked to make DFW more resilient. Back in December, Jim Moses, American’s senior vice president of DFW operations, said the strategy at the airline’s “largest and most impactful hub must also evolve.” The company packed more flights into banks and brought in extra recovery resources at DFW. American Airlines Newsroom
The recovery remains patchy. The FAA’s operations advisory had a potential ground stop or delay program at DFW/DAL through 0200 GMT, or 9 p.m. CDT. The weather service kept daily storm chances into the weekend, warning that flood risk goes up later this week.
The FAA says its airport status info gives a general view and doesn’t apply to any one flight, and tells travelers to check with their airlines. At DFW, that’s still the main test: you find out if a grounded or delayed plane just means you’re late, or if you’re about to miss a connection.
