As travelers rushed to airports across the country on Christmas Eve, American Airlines experienced a ground stop for all flights due to a “technical issue.”
Update 10:02 a.m. ET, Dec. 24: KPRC received a statement from American Airlines which said that the issue was due to “vendor technology” and that the glitch was resolved.
The issue, which caused the hour-long ground stop, “impacted systems needed to release flights.”
NEW: American Airlines is blaming the ground stop on a “vendor technology issue.”
— Gage Goulding - KPRC 2 (@GageGoulding) December 24, 2024
Read their full statement. 👇 @KPRC2 https://t.co/aCkHBMBhZK pic.twitter.com/KgpDhJh4Xv
Update 8 a.m. ET, Dec. 24: Passengers are reporting that boarding has started once again in Chicago, Fort Lauderdale and other airports.
Announcement in ORD Admirals Club: The system is “back up.”
— Ryan Ewing (@FlyingHighRyan) December 24, 2024
Agent directed passengers to go to gates.
The FAA confirmed that the ground stop was canceled.
Original report:
We're currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights. Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we'll have you safely on your way to your destination.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) December 24, 2024
The company did not disclose what the technical issue was or an estimated time frame needed to fix the issue.
Our team is currently working to get this done. An estimated timeframe has not been provided, but they're trying to fix it in the shortest possible time.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) December 24, 2024
The Federal Aviation Administration said the ground stop was requested by American Airlines.
Christmas Eve is expected to be one of the busiest travel days this year. The FAA said about 30,000 flights were scheduled across all airlines, Bloomberg reported.
About 40 million people are expected to fly from Dec. 19 through Jan. 2, ABC News reported. American said Dec. 27 will be its busiest day with Dec. 20 being the second busiest this season.
To check the status of your flight, visit your airline’s website, or follow along on FlightAware.
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