Christmas travel
Amid what is set to be the busiest holiday season ever for US air travel, American Airlines passengers have suffered Christmas Eve disruption today, after the company briefly sought a ground stop from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
At 6:50 a.m. ET, the FAA revealed that it had ordered a ground stop for all American Airlines flights in the US, having issued the order at the company’s own request. An hour later, the FAA announced the cancellation of the stop.
American Airlines is yet to fully explain why it asked FAA for the ground stop, but said in a social-media post that it had been hit by a “technical issue.”
“We’re currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights,” the carrier said on its X account. “Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we’ll have you safely on your way to your destination.”
We're currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights. Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we'll have you safely on your way to your destination.
Per ABC, American Airlines has said some flights are now beginning to board. At the time of writing, however, it appeared that normal service was yet to resume across all the carrier’s US flights.
At shortly before 9:00 a.m. ET, American Airlines said to an X user who reported that he had been forced to de-board his flight: “At present, we don’t have an exact timeframe [on the technical issue being fully resolved]. Rest assured, our team is working on getting you back on track as soon as possible. We appreciate you hanging in there with us!”
If you are travelling with American Airlines today, you can check the status of your flight on the company’s live tracker.
According to a press release issued by the US Department of Transportation last week, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen around 40 million people between December 19 and January 6, up 6.2% on the numbers experience in the 2023 holiday season.
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About the author
William Allen
British journalist and translator who joined Diario AS in 2013. Focuses on soccer – chiefly the Premier League, LaLiga, the Champions League, the Liga MX and MLS. On occasion, also covers American sports, general news and entertainment. Fascinated by the language of sport – particularly the under-appreciated art of translating cliché-speak.
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