Netizens are horrified, confused, and outright scared after the Federal Aviation Administration closed the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas, grounding all flights to and from the airport for at least the next 10 days.
The official announcement came late Tuesday night, with the FAA citing “special security reasons.” Those reasons still had not been disclosed as of publication. El Paso International Airport is among the busiest airports in Texas, and El Paso itself has a population of nearly 700,000.
Although the FAA lifted the restrictions later Wednesday morning, the news still had social media users on edge.
“Airport staff has reached out to the FAA, and we are pending additional guidance,” the airport said in a statement. “In the meanwhile, commercial airlines operating out of El Paso are being informed of the restriction, which appears to be security related. Travelers are encouraged to contact their airlines to get the latest information on their flight status.”
El Paso International Airport has confirmed that the closure also extends to cargo and general aviation flights. Notable airlines that offer services to and from El Paso include American Airlines, Delta, Southwest and United.
El Paso’s skies just went DARK.
The FAA shut down ALL flights in and out of El Paso International for 10 full days! No explanation beyond ‘special security reasons’ and ‘national defense airspace.’
Right on the US-Mexico border… what’s really going on?
Empty runways, silent… pic.twitter.com/4THaqhvtvW
— Marianne Bornhoft (@spokanehouse) February 11, 2026
Although some X users joked about the closure being related to potential extraterrestrial activity, others expressed genuine fear. NPR’s John Stempin called the move “really strange” in an X post overnight.
“No one, not even military users, were apparently given advanced warning,” Stempin wrote. “Aside from 9/11, I can’t remember anything like that.”
“As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire, and I believe this is the result of the {FAA’s] careful investigation of several pieces of information,” another user commented.
No other airports in Texas or New Mexico had announced similar closures as of Wednesday morning. There have been no reports regarding the closure being tied to potential terrorist activities or threats.
One X user wrote that their anxiety was “through the roof.” Others questioned whether the closure meant that the U.S. military intended to attack Mexico, specifically the cartels.
This El Paso, Texas TFR is crazy the confusion from the pilots
From @theATCapp pic.twitter.com/O6XGK1WdBv
— Ken pochubay (@kennethpochubay) February 11, 2026
“This 10-day ‘blackout’ over El Paso might be the first time the U.S. has quietly stress-tested a real-world model for what total civilian airspace denial looks like when the border finally becomes treated as a true forward operating line…not just rhetoric,” an X user argued.
As Stempin pointed out, this is believed to be one of the first times that airspace around a major airport has been closed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Although airports sometimes close or are restricted for weather reasons, that does not mean the airspace itself is closed.
President Donald Trump had not commented on the closure as of publication.
As of Wednesday morning, no major airlines had publicly announced whether they intended to refund customers. It is unclear whether airlines had reached out to customers privately. The same also applies to major hotel chains.
