Millions of American travelers faced significant delays on Christmas Eve when American Airlines temporarily halted flights due to a nationwide technical issue. The disruption, which lasted about an hour, was caused by a “vendor technology issue” affecting the airline’s flight release systems.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the nationwide ground stop just before 1:00 PM GMT. The disruption occurred during one of the busiest travel days of the year, as many passengers were making their way to family gatherings for the Christmas holiday.
American Airlines swiftly apologized for the inconvenience caused, assuring passengers that its team was working tirelessly to minimize delays. “It’s all hands on deck,” said a spokesperson. “We’re doing everything we can to get our customers where they need to go as quickly as possible.”
While the technical issue was resolved, travelers continued to experience delays at major U.S. airports. Some flights were delayed by up to two hours as American Airlines worked to get its systems back on track. According to Flightradar24, planes began taking off again from key travel hubs, and most flights resumed on time after the initial disruption.
Passengers took to social media to report being stranded on the tarmac or waiting at the gates for their flights to resume. Some were even asked to disembark after being delayed due to the outage.
This isn’t the first time American Airlines has faced widespread disruptions caused by technical issues. Earlier this year, the airline and other major carriers were impacted by a global IT crash in July, which caused communication problems that grounded flights across the U.S. and affected several industries, including banks and emergency services.
Source: BBC News