American Airlines mysteriously issued a temporary ground stop on all of its U.S. flights early Tuesday morning, causing temporary fear for thousands of people who were flying over the Christmas Eve holiday.
The airline warned travelers just after 6:30 a.m. that it was “experiencing technical issues on all U.S. flights,” without providing further details.
However, the Federal Aviation Administration announced just before 8 a.m. that the ground stop on the AA had been lifted, but it also did not specify the cause.
Earlier, the company had responded to travelers complaining about their predicament on social media.
In response to questions from stranded passengers, the company said in a post on X: “No estimated duration is given, but we are working to resolve the issue in the shortest possible time.”
The technical issues couldn’t come at a worse time, with about 40 million passengers expected to use airports during the holiday period, which ends on Jan. 2, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
The airline operates thousands of daily flights to more than 350 destinations in more than 60 countries.
Comes with post wire.