American Airlines Christmas Eve flight delays? What to expect after temporary ground stop
American Airlines flights were briefly grounded across its network Tuesday morning due to an unspecified technical issue.
While flight operations resumed after about an hour, delays and cancellations are likely to persist throughout the day as the company plays catch-up from the pause.
"A vendor technology issue briefly affected flights this morning," American Airlines said in a statement. "We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning. It’s all hands on deck as our team is working diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible."
As of 4:20 p.m. ET, American Airlines had 13 reported cancelations but almost 1,000 delays, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Travelers should check with the carrier directly for updates on how specific flights may be affected.
What you're entitled to if your flight is delayed or canceled
If your flight was affected by the American Airlines outage, you may be entitled to a refund. Recently finalized rules from the Department of Transportation require airlines to refund your ticket in full, even if you purchased a non-refundable fare if your flight is canceled and you choose not to travel.
The DOT also requires airlines to provide a refund if your flight is delayed by more than three hours for a domestic itinerary or six hours for an international one, and you choose not to travel.
How common are ground stops?
Ground stops are a fairly common tool for the Federal Aviation Administration to address operational irregularities. In fact, there was at least one other ground stop Tuesday morning, with departures out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport paused due to thunderstorms from 9:36 a.m. to noon Eastern.
The FAA prioritizes safety in flight operations and often uses ground stops or other flow control measures to ensure flights are operating in the safest possible conditions.
"We occasionally will have ground stops when things like strong weather are affecting our ability to arrive and depart from a certain airport. We must wait out the weather sometimes, or air traffic control may need to shut down air space areas because of this. But it is a fairly rare occasion to have technology issues affect system-wide." Laura Einsetler, a captain at a major U.S. airline and author of the Captain Laura blog, told Paste BN in a statement. "It is very difficult for the entire system and all people involved when you have a technology issue like this ... It is as frustrating for us as it is for passengers. We want to get you to your destinations, especially during the holidays!"
(This story was updated to include new information.)
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for Paste BN based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.