FAA lifts groundstop of American Airlines flights after technical issue

Brief halt to flights in US had threatened the travel plans of millions of people during busy holiday period.

A groundstop of all American Airlines flights in the United States has been lifted, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said, after an unspecified “technical issue” briefly halted flights across the country.

Just before 7am Eastern time (12:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the FAA ordered all American Airlines flights grounded in the US at the airline’s request.

“American Airlines reported a technical issue this morning and requested a nationwide ground stop. The ground stop has now been lifted,” Bridgett Frey, assistant administrator for communications at the FAA, said in a statement.

The groundstop, early on Christmas Eve, had threatened the travel plans of millions of people across the US during the busy holiday period.

American Airlines had said that “a technical issue” was affecting its flights.

“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 a post on X.

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.

— americanair (@AmericanAir) December 24, 2024

American operates thousands of flights per day to more than 350 destinations in more than 60 countries.

The grounding came months after airlines were hit by a global tech outage tied to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and a software issue at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

Two years ago, Southwest Airlines experienced a meltdown with its systems during the holidays that led to 16,900 flight cancellations and stranded 2 million passengers.

It was eventually fined $140m in the largest-ever civil penalty for a travel disruption.

This year, the Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers over the holidays and through January 2.

Social media lit up on Tuesday morning with travellers complaining about how the American Airlines delay might impact their holidays or ruin their visit with family.

“Heck of [a] 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,” one user wrote on X.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies