A massive system failure has caused all American Airlines flights to be grounded, leaving frustrated passengers stranded on the tarmac one day before Christmas. The Federal Aviation Administration said that American Airlines requested a ground stop for all its flights without sharing much details.
"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," the airline said in a post on X. "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."
American Airlines Comes to Abrupt Halt
American Airlines has not yet shared further information about the specific technical issue. In a statement, the airline said, "We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."
A video posted on social media shows an agent at Fort Lauderdale Airport in Florida informing travelers that "our system is down," while passengers were held at the gate.
The exact number of flights affected by the grounding remains unclear.
The disruption comes at a time when a record number of Americans are expected to travel for the holidays. The Transportation Security Administration projected screening nearly 40 million passengers between December 19 and January 2, marking a 6.2 percent rise compared to 2023.
American Airlines had predicted December 27 to be its busiest travel day of the season, with December 20 as the second busiest, during its holiday period starting December 18.
Today's incident follows a similar issue from months ago when American Airlines grounded all flights due to an IT failure caused by a flawed software update from the cybersecurity company Crowdstrike.
On July 19, American Airlines, along with other carriers, suspended flights for much of the day.
Delta Airlines was also affected, with over 42,000 flights delayed and more than 4,700 cancellations globally.
It's a developing story.
