American Airlines grounds all domestic flights on Christmas eve

American Airlines briefly halted all domestic flights for about an hour early this morning due to a technical issue, according to a notice on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) website. The airline has yet to disclose the exact nature of the issue, leaving passengers and industry observers speculating on its cause.

The disruption left many travelers stranded, with multiple reports on social media describing planes being held stationary on runways and then redirected back to terminals. The airline’s customer service team responded to individual queries on platforms like X, Bluesky, and Facebook, explaining that they were working to resolve the issue “in the shortest possible time.” However, no official statement or timeline for resolution was provided.

Shares of American Airlines fell by 3.8% in pre-market trading, reflecting investor concerns over the incident. The FAA website confirmed that the ground stop was initiated at the airline's request, but it did not offer additional details about the problem. As of 7:30 am ET, flights had resumed operations, though delays persisted at several airports nationwide.

Passengers expressed frustration online, with one individual tweeting, "Hey, @AmericanAir, just tell us whether we should go home or not. Please don't make us wait in the airport for hours." The lack of transparency about the nature and resolution of the issue only added to the tension.

American Airlines, which operates thousands of flights daily to over 350 destinations worldwide, has faced significant technical challenges in the past. The latest incident follows a series of industry-wide disruptions related to Microsoft's Azure cloud platform and CrowdStrike software issues.

In a similar scenario two years ago, Southwest Airlines experienced a systems failure during the holiday season, leading to 16,900 canceled flights and stranding over 2 million passengers. That debacle resulted in a £140 million fine, the largest civil penalty ever imposed for a travel disruption. While American Airlines' ground stop was much shorter, the event underscores ongoing vulnerabilities in airline technology systems.