- American Airlines briefly grounded all of its US flights over a technical issue on Tuesday morning.
- The airline told BI that a “vendor technology issue” had affected its flights.
- Some cancellations or delays could trigger compensation, according to new federal rules.
American Airlines grounded all of its flights across the US for about an hour on Tuesday, saying it was experiencing technical issues.
Later Tuesday morning, American flights were back in the air, but it was unclear if the earlier delays would reverberate through its network and cause any additional issues on a big travel day ahead of Christmas.
According to new Department of Transportation guidelines, some passengers could be entitled to compensation if delays exceed a certain threshold or if their flights are canceled.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in an advisory statement early on Tuesday morning that the airline’s flights across the US were grounded. An update around an hour later said the nationwide ground stop was canceled.
American Airlines told Business Insider in a statement that a “vendor technology issue briefly affected flights.” That issue has been resolved, and flights have resumed.
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning,” American said in the statement. “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 the technology issue affected the systems that are needed to release flights and said the ground stop lasted about an hour.
Bloomberg reported the issue prevented the airline from calculating weight and balance requirements for its flights.
American said customers can find information on their flights through the airline’s app and website.
About 1,000 flight delays on Christmas Eve
Data from the flight-tracking website FlightAware showed about 1,000 American flights, including its regional subsidiaries, were delayed Tuesday morning across its Charlotte, Miami, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Phoenix, and Dallas/Forth hubs.
However, none were canceled, and planes were getting back into the air by mid-morning Eastern time. Most flights were running one to two hours behind schedule, with some reaching three hours.
Charlotte and Dallas/Fort Worth are the most affected airports, with more than 300 flight delays each. However, a weather advisory in effect in the Dallas area is further disrupting flights.
It’s still unclear how these delays could affect afternoon flights as the airline tries to catch up.
Federal rules about customer compensation
Users on X said they were made to get off their planes on Tuesday morning.
New airline rules passed this year by the Department of Transportation say customers are entitled to automatic refunds for flight cancellations and delays.
It applies to flight cancellations and those that are “significantly changed,” including domestic flights that arrive at least three hours later than scheduled.
The caveat is that customers must not take the changed booking to receive the refund. If they do, no compensation is required.
However, most airlines, including American, have committed to offering meal vouchers to travelers who wait three hours or more due to a delayed or canceled flight that was within the airline’s control. America’s technical issues would fall under that category.
Hotels are provided for an overnight delay or cancellation, as well as transportation to and from the airport — though it’s unclear if American’s Tuesday disruptions will spill over into Wednesday.
The disruption comes on Christmas Eve, one of the biggest travel days of the year.
The Transportation Security Administration said it expected to screen almost 40 million people through airports over the holidays, more than a 6% increase from last year.
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