Rep. Veronica Escobar criticizes FAA over sudden El Paso airspace closure

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Rep. Veronica Escobar said the Federal Aviation Administration shut down El Paso airspace without notifying local officials or members of Congress, calling the move highly consequential and unacceptable during a virtual press conference Wednesday.

Escobar said she learned of the planned closure late Tuesday night from a federal employee and not from the FAA or the administration.

She said neither her office nor local leaders were informed before the notice was issued, despite the potential impact on commercial flights, military operations at Fort Bliss and emergency aviation.

“The FAA did not notify anyone locally,” Escobar said. “They did not alert the El Paso International Airport, they did not alert the El Paso city manager or the El Paso mayor, so everyone locally on the ground was in the dark.”

The temporary flight restriction halted all air traffic, including commercial travel, military training and emergency flights such as medical evacuations and helicopters, she said.

Escobar said her team spent hours overnight seeking answers and confirmed the decision originated within the FAA, without local consultation or advance communication.

“Any impact of this magnitude needs to be communicated with clarity and with advance notice,” she said.

The airspace was later reopened, a development Escobar announced on social media after receiving confirmation from the FAA. She said she hopes normal operations will continue and pledged to work with congressional committees to prevent similar disruptions elsewhere.

The El Paso International Airport plays a critical role in the regional economy and transportation network, Escobar said, adding that officials are still assessing the broader effects of the brief closure.

“We have to wait and see what the impact is and the domino effect that will have occurred,” she said.

Escobar emphasized there was no threat to public safety and said that uncertainty fueled concern and speculation among residents.

“I was getting outreach from people asking, 'Do we need to leave the vicinity?' 'What is happening?'” she said.

Questions during the briefing focused on reports linking the closure to drone activity near the U.S. Mexico border. Escobar declined to speak for the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security but said nothing at Fort Bliss affected airport operations.

She also questioned statements from administration officials tying the shutdown to Mexican cartel drones.

“That is not the information that we in Congress have been told,” Escobar said.

She noted that drone incursions from Mexico are not new and have been discussed for years by congressional committees, adding that no extraordinary incident had been reported to her or to the House Armed Services Committee.

“If there were any incursion that would have posed a threat, the Armed Services Committee would have been made aware,” she said.

Escobar said the FAA provided notice that the airspace would close within about two hours, rather than ordering an immediate grounding of flights, which she said did not align with claims of an urgent threat.

She said the FAA owes the community and the country a clear explanation for why the restriction was imposed so abruptly and lifted just as suddenly, and reiterated that the decision was made in Washington.

“We want to ensure this does not happen to any other community at any other point in time,” Escobar said.