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Unspecified technical issues were given as the reason for not lifting off.
By: Naveen Athrappully
American Airlines has resumed flights after grounding all flights in the country for technical reasons amid the start of a busy Christmas travel season. The halt lasted approximately 1 1/2 hours.
“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 company said in an X post at around 6:30 a.m. EST on Dec. 24. It was a reply to a post by a Twitter user who asked, “@AmericanAir on our flight to Miami and st croix from St. Louis. Sitting on the plane. System wide outage? What is going on?”
American Airlines added: “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.”
In an email to The Epoch Times, the Federal Aviation Administration said: “American Airlines reported a technical issue this morning and requested a nationwide ground stop. The ground stop has now been lifted.”
Another user said the airline may be deplaning after failing to lift off.
“Captain had pushed off and we were preparing for take off after hour delay. But the AA update required us to return to the gate and we may have to de-plane. It’s Christmas Eve and I have a connecting AA flight. Will we fly out?” the user wrote.
The company replied, “Please meet us in DM with your confirmation code and delete your info from the public domain.”
Other users expressed concerns of a possible cyber attack.
“Back to the gate and now deplaning at BNA. Cyber attack is my guess. Heck of way to start Christmas. Hey, @AmericanAir just tell us whether we should go home or not. Please don’t make us wait in the airport for hours,” said Mary Scott Hunter, to which American Airlines replied that the airline was “working to get this rectified.”
The Transportation Security Administration registered 2,826,331 passengers for Dec. 22, an increase of more than 43 percent from the same day last year.
The agency expects a record number of holiday travelers this season.
According to AAA, 3 million more travelers are expected to travel this year than in 2023. Approximately 120 million will travel 50 miles or more, surpassing the previous record set in 2019.
“Travelers should expect the roads, airports and cruise terminals to be more crowded than normal,” said Debbie Haas, vice president of Travel for AAA – The Auto Club Group. “So, finalize your travel plans now and give yourself extra time to get to your destination. We also suggest travel insurance, which provides assistance in the event winter weather or something unexpected interferes with your plans.”
American Airlines said: “A vendor technology issue briefly affected flights this morning. That issue has been resolved and flights have resumed. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning. It’s all hands on deck as our team is working diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible.”
The company said the technology issue impacted systems needed to release flights.
