Air traffic control outage briefly grounds flights at SLO airport
Operations at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport were completely shut down for a brief moment Tuesday — and there was no arriving or departing flights for around 30 minutes, airport administration announced.
According to a news release, the Santa Barbara Air Traffic Control Tower and Terminal Radar Approach Control was in a “complete power and communications outage.”
The Santa Barbara facility is responsible for managing the safe and efficient operation of aircraft arrivals, departures and overflights across Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo regions, the news release said.
Because of that issue, air service at the SLO airport was temporarily suspended Tuesday.
“This situation is entirely outside of our local control, however we want our passengers to know that we’re doing everything we can to stay informed and to share updates as quickly and clearly as possible,” Courtney Johnson, director of airports, said in the release Tuesday morning. “The safety of everyone in our airspace remains the top priority and we appreciate the public’s patience and understanding.”
According to Flight Radar 24, one flight inbound to San Luis Obispo from Phoenix was circling in the airspace as of 11:30 a.m.
But as of noon, power at air traffic control has been restored and air operations resumed.
According to a second news release from the airport at 11:50 a.m., the Los Angeles Center assumed responsibility for the affected airspace, allowing arrivals and departures at the local airport to proceed as normal.
Travelers can check the airport’s website and social media channels for updates as they become available.
This story was originally published July 22, 2025 at 11:47 AM.
