AAFrequentFlyer

It's 11am Sunday. A friend just called me from his diverted plane in Las Vegas. They were flying from San Francisco to San Diego and the plane was diverted to Las Vegas. As he was talking to me from the plane, the official announcement came over the PA. All SCal airports closed at this moment due to the fires and a air traffic control center being threaten by the fires.

clarkgriswold

Looks to get even worse overnight as the winds kick up.

Thousands are in shelters, hundreds have lost their homes.

Alisa

Southwest has suspended all flights into LA--I have a friend stranded in Phoenix and I am babysitting her two beautiful Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

The fires are horrible and the skies are dark. My deepest sympathies to all those who have lost their homes and loved ones.

Calamari

Lindburgh field / San Diego Airport has been closed for a couple of hours and will remain closed according to the news. We are being told to stay off of the highways, most of which are closed, not to go to work tomorrow if at all possible and that the kids need to stay home from school and indoors. It is a major ordeal.

Gretchen

Daughter flew into San Diego yesterday about 3PM but it looked as if many flights were being cancelled as they arrived.

tcapp

My husband flew back home to us from a business trip this morning. He flew out of LAX, but that was at 6am and he said the Departure/Cancellation boards were just a sea of cancellations, including the flight right after his. He said as far as he could tell, all flights into LAX had been cancelled.

Anonymous

Makes sense, as it's much easier to make last-minute decisions about departures than arrivals! Plus, the airlines wouldn't want plaes getting grounded and stranded there, unable to carry on with their planned schedules.

rjw_lgb_ca

The air traffic control center in question is down in the San Diego area, and was in a fire zone. Don't know if it burned or not. I think it's a high-altitude center. In any case, its duties are now running out of a Palmdale facility (LA County, High Desert) that has only a fraction of the capacity to handle traffic.

I drove past LAX this morning and saw Delta, US Air and American Eagle planes land. The delays, according to the FAA, are at least 2 hours for incoming flights. Other area airports aren't showing delays, however-- kind of odd. I did watch an American flight land at Long Beach yesterday, so they are getting into the smaller airports.

Anyone coming into this area, a warning: It is very hot and you will smell ash and soot in the air, especially south of the Torrance area. If you have respiratory problems, please bring masks for the next few days. The hot weather will be here until Wednesday at the earliest, and I'd look for these fires to be under complete control by week end.

Barbara

The TRACON center in San Diego did not burn, although the fire at one point was about a quarter of a mile from it. It is located right next to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, just off the I-15.

There is still very heavy smoke in parts of San Diego. From where I am, it looks as if the entire downtown area, including the airport, is obscured by the smoke. The air quality is awful and the smell is dreadful. Virtually everything in San Diego is closed today. All the schools are closed and there are no athletic practices or events.

TxTravelPro

FAA says San Diego is open:
http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp

Barbara

The airport is technically open, but that doesn't necessarily mean that all scheduled flights will be operating. It is up to individual airlines to decide what they want to do, so check with your airline.

TxTravelPro

AA is operating a reduced schedule. If your flight is cancelled there's a chance you can get out on another flight later.