American Airlines Flights Delayed After Nationwide Ground Stop on Christmas Eve
A technical issue created chaos at the height of the hectic holiday travel season.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto
American Airlines operations resumed Tuesday after a “technical issue” temporarily disrupted all of the carrier’s U.S. flights on Christmas Eve morning.
The Federal Aviation Administration cleared American to fly after earlier stating, in an advisory notice, that the airline had requested a ground stop for all flights.
“A vendor technology issue briefly affected flights this morning,” American said in a statement. “That issue has been resolved and flights have resumed. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning. It’s all hands on deck as our team is working diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible.”
The airline said the ground stop lasted approximately one hour and that the technical issue impacted “systems needed to release flights.”
Early Tuesday morning, when flights were halted, customers took to social media to express their concern about travel delays.
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“Just tell us whether we should go home or not,” one person tweeted at the airline, stating they were made to deplane in Nashville. “Please don’t make us wait in the airport for hours.”
Our team is working to get this rectified so that you can be safely on your way to your family. Your continued patience is appreciated.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) December 24, 2024
“Our team is working to get this rectified so that you can be safely on your way to your family,” American replied. “Your continued patience is appreciated.”
After operations resumed, some customers posted that they were still experiencing delays.
NBC Washington reporter Joseph Olmo posted pictures of the departure board at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which showed several American flights delayed between 15 minutes and two hours.
✈️ Even though the American Airlines ground stop has been lifted… it’s going to be a while until operations stabilize.
— Joseph Olmo (@ReporterJoseph) December 24, 2024
Here @ DCA — a good portion of the American flights are delayed, anywhere between 15mins-2hrs. @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/qMZM0OElOj
The airline’s shares fell 3.8 percent before the market opened.
“We’re doing our best to get things back on track,” American told another customer on social media.
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