Pentagon FAA Dispute Prompts Brief El Paso Airspace Shutdown
The airspace over El Paso International Airport was abruptly closed and then reopened within hours Wednesday after a dispute between the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration over plans to test a laser system aimed at cartel drones, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The FAA had initially announced a 10 day closure that would have grounded all flights in and out of the West Texas hub. By midmorning, however, the agency reversed course and reopened the airspace, leaving airlines and passengers scrambling to adjust.
Sudden Closure Confuses Travelers
The airport, which brands itself as the “gateway to West Texas, Southern New Mexico and Northern Mexico,” serves as a key regional travel hub. On Wednesday, 43 flights totaling more than 5,900 seats were scheduled to depart, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Flight tracking data showed seven outbound flights canceled by midday, along with seven inbound flights. About a dozen others were delayed.
Southwest Airlines accounts for more than 53 percent of the airport’s passenger traffic, based on November data. Other carriers operating from El Paso include American, United, Frontier and Delta.
Cirium reported that 325,000 passengers traveled through the airport in November. During the same period last year, February 2025, total arrivals and departures reached 229,244.
Pentagon Plans Spark Interagency Friction
The temporary shutdown stemmed from the Defense Department’s plans to test a laser designed to shoot down drones used by Mexican drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to three sources granted anonymity to discuss sensitive details.
Two of those individuals said the Pentagon’s timeline clashed with the FAA’s concerns about maintaining commercial aviation safety. While a meeting between the agencies had been scheduled for later this month, the Pentagon sought to proceed sooner. The FAA responded by closing the airspace.
It remains unclear whether the laser system was ultimately deployed.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the closure followed efforts by the Defense Department and FAA to neutralize a drone incursion tied to Mexican cartels. Drone activity along the border is not uncommon.
The Pentagon declined to elaborate beyond a statement echoing Duffy’s remarks. Officials at the White House, FAA and Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.
Lawmakers Say They Were Not Notified
Rep. Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, said her office, city officials and airport leadership received no advance notice of the shutdown.
She also disputed claims that a drone had entered U.S. airspace, saying that is not what members of Congress had been told.
No airspace closures were reported on the Mexican side of the border.
Cartel Drone Use Expanding
Mexican cartels have increasingly relied on drones to transport drugs, monitor migrant crossings and carry out attacks against rival groups and authorities. Mexico first issued an international alert in 2010 about the growing use of remote controlled aircraft by criminal organizations, and the tactic has continued to expand in the years since.
For El Paso, a border city of nearly 700,000 residents, the brief but sweeping shutdown highlighted how security operations aimed at cartel threats can quickly ripple into civilian life and commercial travel.
