American Airlines' problems at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport kept rolling on Sunday, with the carrier and the airport posting the highest cancellation totals anywhere in the world as travelers tried to salvage Memorial Day weekend trips.
Dallas-Fort Worth led all airports with 143 departing flights and 125 arriving flights canceled on Sunday, along with 398 departing delays and 290 arriving delays. American Airlines alone canceled 233 flights and logged 864 delays, according to FlightAware, while United Airlines canceled 16 flights because of disruptions at O'Hare International Airport.
The scale of the disruption was visible on the ground. Passengers reported long lines for help at the Admirals Club at DFW, where one traveler wrote on Reddit, “I’m stuck with a cancelled flight from DFW to SAV tonight. Long lines for help desk in admirals club.” Another passenger said their flight was delayed several times, then canceled, before they were put on an alternate flight that was already boarding. “I RAN to the gate and made it as it was boarding group 9,” the traveler wrote, adding later that they were on the plane on the runway awaiting takeoff.
The weekend problems were not new. American had already canceled hundreds of flights at DFW earlier in the week after a ground stop, and the airport had warned travelers to expect heavy passenger volumes during Memorial Day weekend, including advice to change terminals when needed. Severe thunderstorms and flash flood warnings affected parts of western Texas during the same period, adding pressure to an already strained schedule.
By Sunday night, the numbers showed how sharply the trouble was concentrated at DFW: 268 total cancellations tied to the airport's departures and arrivals, plus nearly 700 delays. With 6,668 delays within, into or out of the United States on Sunday, the airport's problems were part of a broader air travel mess, but none of it was hitting harder than American's own hub. Disruptions were expected to continue on Monday, leaving travelers with the least satisfying answer in air travel — keep checking, keep rebooking and keep heading back to the line.
