The world’s largest airline operator, American Airlines, grounded all its flights in the United States on Christmas Eve due to an unspecified technical glitch, news agency Reuters reported.
“Our teams are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” a statement from the airline said.
Announcements were made at airports when passengers were ready to board the flights. A video from an airport in the US showed the airline informing passengers that “They will give an update every 15 minutes and let them know what is going on…Our system is down and we cannot put the crew on or board any customer…We are working on it.”
Announcement from American Airlines as we wait at @FLLFlyer @AmericanAir pic.twitter.com/zL4137ih4g
— Anna McAllister (@annamactv) December 24, 2024
The problems come on the morning of Christmas Eve, which is expected to set a travel record, according to the AAA. Several passengers posted on social media about the inconvenience faced, especially at the airport as flights were cancelled or grounded hours before the scheduled take off.
The shares of the carrier were down 3.8% before the bell, Reuters reported. The airline has not made any formal statement on social media but is responding to passenger complaints on X, Facebook and Bluesky. A note on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the company has requested for grounding all flights.