Thousands of travelers were stuck at holiday-packed airports on Tuesday after American Airlines briefly grounded all its flights in the United States because of a technical issue and bad weather later in the day worsened the resulting delays.
American Airlines initially reported that a vendor’s technology problem was to blame for the delays. The issue was resolved after about an hour, but the early delays had a domino affect across the system.
Then bad weather moved in, with some of the worst problems reported at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which is American’s largest hubs and one of the busiest airports in the United States.
Thunderstorms caused average delays of over three hours throughout the day at DFW. For many, the wait was even longer.
Desmond Zantua, 35, of Queens said he had been stuck at DFW for more than seven hours on his way to Tucson, Ariz. The “adventure of rescheduled and delayed flights has resulted in me spending more of Christmas Eve at the DFW Pizza Hut Bar than with my wife, waiting for me in Tucson,” Mr. Zantua said. “Customer service line goes on forever.”
Some passengers took the problem in stride. Mary Hardy, 64, was waiting at DFW for her flight to Newark when a delay was announced. She said she was disappointed, but she acknowledged that mishaps were to be expected during holiday travel.
“We should have known flying out Christmas Eve that something could happen,” she said. “You just have to be prepared.”
Tens of millions of people fly during the period from mid-December to shortly after New Year’s Day. The Federal Aviation Administration said it expected more than 31,000 flights on Christmas Eve
American Airlines is the largest carrier in the United States by number of seats, according to OAG, an aviation data provider. It has more than 3,300 domestic flights scheduled on Tuesday and 581 international departures, according to Cirium, an aviation data company.
The disruption comes during a rocky year for the aviation industry. In July, a flawed software update issued by the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike led to a global technology outage, affecting many businesses, including airlines. At least five U.S. airlines — Allegiant, American, Delta, Spirit and United — grounded all flights for a time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
In December 2022, bad weather forced several airlines to cancel many flights on Christmas, but Southwest Airlines struggled for much longer than its competitors. It took days for Southwest to restore operations as it grappled with technical and other problems, including an inability to efficiently get crews to where they were needed. The meltdown stranded an estimated two million passengers and cost Southwest more than $1 billion, including lost revenue, refunds and reimbursements.
The post American Airlines Tech Issue and Bad Weather Delay Christmas Eve Flights for Thousands appeared first on New York Times.
