WASHINGTON — American Airlines temporarily grounded flights across the country on Tuesday due to a technical issue, coinciding with the peak Christmas travel season and potential winter weather disruptions for travelers flying or driving.
Government regulators allowed American flights to resume about an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a national ground stop for the airline. This order, requested by American, halted takeoffs after the airline encountered problems with its flight operating system (FOS). The airline attributed the issue to technology from one of its vendors.
As a result, flights were delayed across American Airlines’ major hubs, with only 36% of the airline’s 3,901 domestic and international flights departing on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Additionally, 51 flights were canceled.
Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, reported that the airline informed pilots at 7 a.m. Eastern Time about an outage affecting the flight operating system (FOS). This system manages various airline operations, including dispatch, flight planning, passenger boarding, and aircraft weight and balance data.
While there have been instances of FOS components failing in the past, a systemwide outage is uncommon, Tajer noted. Hours after the ground stop was lifted, he stated that the union had not observed any “chaos out there beyond just the normal heavy travel day.” Officials were monitoring for any potential cascading effects, such as staffing issues.
On social media, customers shared their frustrations about delays that caused them or their family members to miss connecting flights. One person inquired if American Airlines intended to hold flights for passengers making connections, while others lamented the lack of assistance they felt they received from the airline or gate agents.
Bobby Tighe, a real estate agent from Florida, said he would miss a family Christmas Eve party in New York due to repeated delays with his American flight. These delays resulted in him missing a connecting flight, leaving him with the option of reaching his destination—Westchester, New York—on Christmas Day or taking another flight to Newark, New Jersey, which was scheduled to arrive Tuesday evening. He opted for the latter.
“I’m just going to take an Uber or Lyft to the airport I was originally supposed to go to, pick up my rental car, and kind of restart everything tomorrow,” Tighe explained. He mentioned that his girlfriend was “going through the same exact situation” on her way from Dallas to New York.
Cirium reported that most flights were departing within two hours of their scheduled takeoff. A similar percentage—39%—arrived on time at their destinations.
According to Cirium, Dallas-Fort Worth, New York’s Kennedy Airport, and Charlotte, North Carolina, experienced the highest number of delays, while Washington, Chicago, and Miami saw notably fewer.
Meanwhile, flight-tracking site FlightAware indicated that 4,058 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic routes, were delayed, with 76 flights canceled. Although no American Airlines flights appeared as delayed early Tuesday morning, the afternoon showed that 961 American flights faced delays.
As travelers faced these issues, significant rain and snow were anticipated in the Pacific Northwest through Christmas Day. Showers and thunderstorms were developing in the South, while freezing rain was reported in the Mid-Atlantic region near Baltimore and Washington, and snow fell in New York.
Because the holiday travel season lasts for weeks, airports and airlines typically experience smaller peak days compared to the rush around Thanksgiving. However, the continuous pressure of one hectic day after another can strain flight crews, and any disruptions—a winter storm or a computer system failure—can lead to widespread chaos.
This situation is reminiscent of December 2022 when Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers, and a smaller but significant disruption occurred in July when Delta Air Lines faced a global technology outage caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.
During the holiday season, many flights are sold out, making cancellations more disruptive than during quieter travel periods. This is especially true for smaller budget airlines, which have fewer flights and limited options for rebooking passengers. Only major airlines, such as American, Delta, and United, have “interline agreements” allowing them to place stranded customers on other carriers’ flights.
This will be the first holiday season since a new Transportation Department rule took effect, requiring airlines to automatically issue cash refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights. While most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, they often had to request them themselves.
Passengers can still request rebooking, which may be a better choice than a refund during busy travel times. This is because finding a last-minute flight on another airline tends to be costly.
An American Airlines spokesperson noted that Tuesday was not a peak travel day for the airline—approximately 2,000 fewer flights than the busiest days—giving them some buffer to manage the delays.
These delays occurred as millions of travelers were expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration predicts it will screen 40 million passengers through January 2.
Airlines anticipate their busiest days will be Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.
About 90% of Americans traveling far from home during the holidays will be driving, according to AAA.
“Airline travel is quite high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, which holds true for every holiday,” said AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz.
Gas prices are similar to last year, with the nationwide average on Thursday at $3.04 per gallon, down from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA. The average cost to charge an electric vehicle is just under 35 cents per kilowatt hour, varying by state.
Transportation data firm INRIX estimates travel times on the nation’s highways could be up to 30% longer than usual during the holidays, with Sunday expected to have the heaviest traffic. Boston, New York City, Seattle, and Washington are projected to face the greatest delays, according to the company.
