American Airlines briefly grounded all its flights in the United States on Tuesday morning, according to a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The regulator said just before 8 a.m. E.T. that the airline was resuming flights after suspending them for about an hour.
American said in a statement that it had experienced a vendor technology issue that affected systems needed to release flights. But the problem was resolved and flights were resumed.
The airline told customers on social media that it was experiencing “a technical issue.” In comments to frustrated travelers, it said it was working to rectify the situation.
“Our team is currently working to get this done,” American Airlines said on X. “An estimated time frame has not been provided, but they’re trying to fix it in the shortest possible time.”
The ground stop, though only for an hour, could result in heavy delays during what’s expected to be a record holiday travel time. Tens of millions of people fly during the period from mid-December to shortly after New Year’s Day. The Federal Aviation Administration said it expected more than 31,000 flights to fly on Christmas Eve.
The airline is the largest carrier in the United States by number of seats, according to OAG, an aviation data provider. It has more than 3,300 domestic flights scheduled on Tuesday and 581 international departures, according to Cirium, an aviation data company.
Some passengers took the problem in stride. Mary Hardy, 64, was waiting at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport for her flight to Newark when the delay was announced. She said she was disappointed, but she acknowledged that mishaps were to be expected during holiday travel.
“We should have known flying out Christmas Eve that something could happen,” she said. “You just have to be prepared.”
The disruption comes during a rocky year for the aviation industry. In July, a flawed software update issued by the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike led to a global technology outage, affecting many businesses, including airlines. At least five U.S. airlines — Allegiant, American, Delta, Spirit and United — grounded all flights for a time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
In December 2022, bad weather forced several airlines to cancel many flights on Christmas, but Southwest Airlines struggled for much longer than its competitors. It took days for Southwest to restore operations as it grappled with technical and other problems, including an inability to efficiently get crews to where they were needed. The meltdown stranded an estimated two million passengers and cost Southwest more than $1 billion, including lost revenue, refunds and reimbursements.
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