SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — While Santa enjoys a delay-free flight, many others flying on Christmas Eve did not.
American Airlines announced the day before Christmas that a vendor “technical glitch” delayed many flights across the United States.
The weather got in the way and many had to wait hours on ground planes.
Utah County native Riley Pierce and her family were among those who had a tough Christmas Eve.
“There was a solid phase where I wanted to cry because my kids were with me and I wanted to be home for Christmas,” Pearce said.
They boarded an American Airlines flight in Orlando at 9 a.m., but it was delayed by two hours because of vendor technical issues that delayed American Airlines flights across the country.
The FAA grounded all American Airlines flights around 6:50 a.m., but resumed operations about an hour later.
For Pierce and his family, the delay was just beginning.
“The pilot came and told us to reroute and return to New Orleans because the weather in Dallas was too bad to take us,” Pierce said.
Pierce said he sat on the plane for four hours after landing in New Orleans, waiting to take off again.
Eventually they were able to reach Dallas, but delays continued.
Previous report: How common are ground stops?
“We sat on the tarmac for almost three hours trying to get off,” Pierce told KUTV while waiting for her flight in Dallas.
Pearce said the diverted plane had no gate, so he had to stay on board.
“There’s no food on the plane, because all the food went on the plane. There’s no water on the plane anymore, because we put all the food on the plane,” she said.
In the end, they ended up spending more than 10 hours on a plane trying to fly home for Christmas.
The good news is that Pierce and her family were eventually able to reach Salt Lake when their plane arrived around 9 p.m.
Upon arriving Tuesday night, Pierce sent a text message to KUTV that read: I’ve never been so happy to see Salt Lake as I was tonight. ”
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