Shortly before 7:00 a.m. ET, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the grounding of all American Airlines flights in the US at the airline’s request.
American Airlines has reported a technical problem affecting its entire system as millions travel for the holidays.
According to the time stamps of the FAA order, the suspension lasted exactly one hour.
American Airlines did not elaborate on the technical issue that caused the flights to be grounded, and the company did not respond to a request for comment.
This grounding comes at the worst possible time for the millions of passengers expected on flights over the next ten days.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen 40 million travelers over the holidays and through Jan. 2.
In December 2022, Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million passengers, while Delta Air Lines experienced a smaller but significant collapse following a global technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more problematic than at times of the year when the number of passengers is somewhat lower. Even a short outage causes a chain effect of cancellation that can last for days.
(Vijesit.ba / FENA)
