Air Traffic Disrupted as Wildfires Continue to Rage in Southern California

FAA has established several temporary flight restrictions in the region to protect aircraft involved in the firefighting operations.

Meg Godlewski

Thursday, January 09, 2025 at 02:48 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

[Courtesy: Los Angeles County Fire Department]

Key Takeaways:

Southern California wildfires are being met with a massive deployment of over 7,500 firefighters and numerous aerial assets from state and western agencies, aided by recent calming winds but threatened by future high winds.
The widespread fires have severely impacted air travel, leading to FAA flight restrictions, disruptions at major commercial airports, flight waivers from airlines, and turbulence affecting in-flight services.
Devastating blazes, including the 17,234-acre Palisades Fire and 10,600-acre Eaton Fire (both 0% contained), have forced 180,000 evacuations, destroyed over 1,000 structures, and resulted in at least five confirmed deaths, with the number expected to increase.

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Calming winds allowed aerial firefighters to deploy in Southern California late Wednesday as wildfires continued to plague the region.

According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the agency was able to utilize 12 helicopters and six airplanes to support the more than 1,100 firefighters assigned to the containment efforts. Several western states are also sending fire personnel, trucks, and aircraft to help combat the fires, officials said.