A “technical issue” briefly affected American Airlines flights nationwide early Tuesday, the carrier said, marking the beginning of a busy Christmas Eve for travelers throughout the country.
The Federal Aviation Administration stated that American requested a ground stop for all of its aircraft. An hour later, American reported that flights were again beginning to board, and the FAA lifted the nationwide ground halt.
“A vendor technology issue briefly affected flights this morning,” American told ABC News. “That issue has been resolved and flights have resumed.”
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this morning,” the message continued. “It’s all hands on deck as our team is working diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible.”
In an early Tuesday post on X, the airline reported “a technical issue with all American Airlines flights.”
The message continued: “Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we’ll have you safely on your way to your destination.” In response to concerns from other social media users, the airline stated that it was unable to estimate how long the fix would take.
The airline stated that it does not currently have a “timeframe” but that “they’re trying to fix it in the shortest possible time.”
In a statement to ABC News, the airline stated, “Our teams are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
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The inconvenience will be undesirable for the record number of Americans anticipated to travel throughout the holiday season.
The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen over 40 million travelers between December 19 and January 2, a 6.2% increase over 2023.
American Airlines said it expected Dec. 27 and Dec. 20 to be its busiest and second-busiest days during the holiday season, which began on December 18.