American Airlines Briefly Grounds U.S. Flights Over Technical Issue
American Airlines grounded all U.S. flights for about an hour on Christmas Eve morning due to a vendor technology issue that disrupted systems needed to release flights.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed flights resumed just before 8 a.m. ET. Affected passengers were offered waivers to reschedule flights through Thursday without additional fees.
The temporary suspension, though brief, is expected to cause significant delays during the busy holiday travel period, with over 31,000 flights anticipated on Christmas Eve.
American Airlines, the largest U.S. carrier by seat capacity, had over 3,300 domestic and 581 international flights scheduled for the day.
Passengers expressed mixed reactions to the disruption. Mary Hardy, traveling from Dallas Fort Worth to Newark, noted that delays are common during holiday travel and encouraged preparation for such occurrences.
This incident follows a challenging year for the aviation industry, including a global technology outage in July caused by a flawed software update.
In December 2022, weather-related issues led to mass cancellations, with Southwest Airlines facing significant operational struggles that stranded millions and cost the company over $1 billion.
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