El Paso mayor wasn’t notified about airspace closure

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)-- El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said the city’s airport was thrown into “chaos” and residents were left frightened after a temporary airspace shutdown halted flights overnight for security reasons.

“Our airport was in chaos. Our community was scared. All because someone decided to shut down our airspace,” Johnson said.

Passengers arriving at El Paso International Airport on Wednesday morning appeared confused after being told that no flights were departing or arriving due to the restriction.

Johnson said he shared that confusion, learning of the shutdown through late-night calls and text messages.

“We woke up just like many of you at midnight last night, one in the morning, to the texts and the calls that we received that our airspace was shut down,” he said.

After becoming aware of the closure, Johnson said he contacted local and state partners, including officials at Fort Bliss and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, to push for the restriction to be lifted and to seek answers.

He said local leaders should have been notified before any decision was made to close the airspace.

“El Paso deserves better communication and better coordination, and more respect for El Paso and the people that live in this community,” Johnson said.

Johnson also raised concerns about potential safety risks, saying medical equipment scheduled to arrive from Dallas and other parts of the country for surgeries did not make it to El Paso during the shutdown.

“There was a lot of surgical equipment that was coming in from Dallas and other parts of the country to do surgeries here in our community,” he said. “That type of equipment did not show up during El Paso.”

Federal officials have not publicly detailed the reason for the temporary restriction. The airspace has since reopened.