A temporary ground stop at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was lifted Friday afternoon after a staffing shortage earlier in the day caused travel delays for many incoming flights.
At around 10:30 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for flights arriving at AUS from the George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport in Houston.
By 11 a.m., the ground stop was extended to flights arriving from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field, and the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. However, flights departing from AUS were not affected.
The ground stop was cited as a result of a shortage of staff in the air traffic control tower, which has plagued the airport for some time.
“THIS is why I’ve been demanding action on the critical air traffic controller staffing crisis. Travelers deserve safety AND reliability,” said Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentas, per KVUE.
U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) has also been a vocal critic of safety issues at the Austin airport in the past. In 2023, following a string of “near-miss” incidents at AUS, he called on the acting administrator of the FAA to take “swift and forceful action” to address the root causes of the “continued air traffic control safety lapses” that were occurring, The Dallas Express reported.
He noted that the airport’s air traffic control levels were insufficient to handle the workload. At that time, the airport was operating at about 40% below recommended staffing levels, and the controllers worked six days per week and logged hundreds of hours of overtime.
Since then, the staffing situation appears to have gotten worse. An FOI request provided to Fox 7 by the FAA indicated that in January 2025, only 32 of the 60 controller positions at AUS—just 53%—were filled.
The FAA announced the ground stoppage was lifted at 12:02 p.m. Although inbound flights have resumed, travelers from the affected airports should check with their airlines, as flights may be delayed as the backlog of flights unwinds.