American Airlines briefly grounded all of its flights Tuesday morning, December 24, during one of the busiest travel periods in the United States. The halt, lasting about an hour, was due to an unspecified technical issue reported by the airline.
After the technical problems had been raised by the air carrier, the FAA ordered the ground stop nationwide. FAA Assistant Administrator for Communications, Bridgett Frey, issued a statement to confirm that the ground stop was lifted.
Meanwhile, as people were on the verge of starting their holiday travel, anxiety had mounted over disrupted plans and reunions. Angry passengers complaining of the delay filled social media.
American Airlines later confirmed that the issue had been fixed and the first flights started boarding around 8 a.m. ET. “We apologize for the disruption this morning and are doing everything we can to get passengers to their destinations as quickly as possible,” the airline said in a statement.
American Airlines had been set to operate about 3,900 flights on this busy travel day, down from the 6,400 flights that were scheduled for the day before.
