Delays grow after American Airlines grounds US flights over technical issue

Thousands of travelers trying to make it to their loved ones for the holidays were stuck at airports through much of Tuesday after American Airlines briefly grounded all its flights in the United States because of a technical issue and bad weather made those delays worse.

The worst of the troubles were centered at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which is American Airlines' largest hub and is one of the country's busiest airports.

The travel problems began Tuesday morning when systems that are needed to release flights malfunctioned because of what American said in a statement was a vendor technology issue. Then came the weather: A system of storms that prompted a flood warning moved into the Dallas area and hundreds of flights were delayed even after the technical issue was resolved about an hour later.

By Tuesday night, only 15% of American Airlines flights at Dallas Fort Worth had departed on time, according to Cirium, an aviation data company. And earlier, the airline also requested that a ground stop for flights headed to the airport be extended until 8:30 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The thunderstorms caused average departure delays of more than two hours at Dallas Fort Worth, according to FlightAware, an aviation tracker. For many, the wait was even longer.

"The 7-hour -- and counting -- 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," said Desmond Zantua, 35, of Queens, New York, who had a layover in Dallas.

The customer service line, Zantua added, went on "forever."

For those planning to travel on Christmas Day through the airport, the Dallas-Fort Worth region was expected to have cloudy but otherwise calm weather. On Thursday, travelers passing through the airport after the holiday face the possibility of more thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service's forecast.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday night when the airline and the airport expected to clear all delayed flights.

It was also not known what exactly caused the original technical issue. In a statement, the airline said that it had experienced an issue with vendor technology that affected the systems needed to release flights.

The ground stop caused by the technical delay lasted only for an hour, but it came on what was expected to be a record period for holiday travel. Tens of millions of people fly during the period from mid-December to shortly after New Year's Day. The FAA had said it expected more than 31,000 flights on Christmas Eve.

American is the largest carrier in the United States by number of seats, according to OAG, an aviation data provider. It had more than 3,300 domestic flights scheduled Tuesday and 581 international departures, according to Cirium.

Some passengers took the problem in stride. Mary Hardy, 64, was waiting at Dallas Fort Worth for her flight to Newark when the delay was announced. She said she was disappointed, but 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."

The disruption also came 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 FAA.

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.