Earlier, I covered how the airspace of El Paso Airport (ELP) was suddenly closed for 10 days, with the explanation being that it’s due to “special security reasons.”
Just closing the airspace around a commercial US airport for 10 days with little advance notice is pretty unprecedented, so understandably, many people wondered what was going on. Well, there’s an update — this flight restriction has already been rescinded, and we have more of a sense of why this might’ve been implemented.
El Paso airspace closure blamed on cartel drone incursion
Restrictions on the airspace around El Paso were lifted just hours after the 10-day airport closure was put into place. Officially, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of War (DOW) blame the closure on Mexican cartel drones. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated on social media that this closure was to “address a cartel drone incursion,” and “the threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.”
El Paso is of course close to the border with Mexico, so many assumed that the closure may have something to do with that detail.
However, there may be a little more nuance to this. The Texas Tribune quotes an industry official who was briefed by the FAA, claiming that the military has been operating drones against drug cartel operations from a base near El Paso, without sharing information about those plans with the FAA. So the idea is that the FAA was unable to predict where the military drones were operating, as they were outside the normal flight paths, and therefore had no choice but to close down the airspace.
I’m happy this was resolved, but what a mess
On the surface, it seems pretty extreme to close airspace for 10 days, and then a few hours later be like “we took care of everything, never mind.”
I suspect one interpretation here could be that the FAA wasn’t happy with the military’s drone activity, and thought it posed a risk to the safety of commercial aircraft, so decided to shut down the airspace. In the aftermath of the 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision, there’s perhaps a bit more sensitivity to the risks, as there should be.
Then perhaps once the airspace was closed down and the Trump administration realized the optics of this and the impact it would have on operations, the military might’ve been forced to modify its approach, to avoid such disruptions.
All that being said, I do wish we were lied to a little bit less. Was the airspace closed because of a cartel drone incursion, or because of military activity using drones against cartels? Either explanation is fine, but those are two very different claims. I guess the end result is the same, but still…
Bottom line
While the airspace around El Paso Airport was supposed to close for 10 days, those flight restrictions have been lifted within hours.
Officially, Trump administration officials are blaming this on Mexican cartel drone activity. However, some briefed by the FAA suggest that this was actually due to military drone operations targeting cartels. Either way, it’s good that this has been resolved, since closing a commercial airport for 10 days is less than ideal.
What do you make of this airspace closure ending abruptly, and the alleged explanation?