On perhaps the worst travel day in the U.S., American Airlines grounded its flights on Christmas Eve. Customers were left frustrated in the early morning hours on December 24, 2024, and of course, many want answers now. In a statement obtained by CNN, AA explained what was happening.
“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 airline said in its statement. “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
A spokesperson for the airline also commented on the situation, telling CNN that customers should “expect some delays throughout the day, but [we’re] working to mitigate those and avoid cancels. We have a smaller schedule today and have the staffing to support the quick recovery.”
Find out what caused American Airlines to ground its flights on Christmas Eve.
BREAKING: American Airlines has grounded all flights due to a technical issue. The FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop at the start of Christmas Eve
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) December 24, 2024
Why Were American Airlines Flights Grounded?
According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) notice, American Airlines requested a full ground stop for its flights at around 7 a.m. ET. The FAA did not respond to inquiries about the halt.
According to NBC Chicago, a “technical issue” caused the widespread ground stop to all AA flights.
“A technical issue is affecting American flights this morning. Our teams are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” the airline explained.
American Airlines Flights Status
We have resolved a vendor technology issue that briefly affected flights this morning. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and have issued a travel alert to allow for additional flexibility. https://t.co/lAp094H8cx
— americanair (@AmericanAir) December 24, 2024
At about 10:30 a.m. ET, AA issued a statement on social media with a status update.
“We have resolved a vendor technology issue that briefly affected flights this morning,” the airline’s official account tweeted. “We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and have issued a travel alert to allow for additional flexibility.”
According to multiple outlets, most flights resumed by around 8 a.m. ET.
What Happened to American Airlines Boarding Passes?
Countless social media users complained online that their boarding passes for certain AA flights were not scanning properly around the time that the airline issued a ground stop.
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