American Airlines suspended all flights in the US on Tuesday due to a technical problem. This disrupted the travel plans of thousands of passengers who were flying on Christmas Eve.
The company did not say why it had suspended all scheduled sailings. Many passengers wrote on social networks that their flights were stuck in the runways of various airports.
“No estimated time frame was provided, but they are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” the company said in a post on X's website, in response to a question from a ground passenger.
The carrier's shares were down 3.8% in premarket trading after data on the US Federal Aviation Administration's website showed only that the company had filed a nationwide request without giving a reason.
Boeing 737 American Airlines.Shutterstock/sockagphoto
There is no official reason
As of 7:30 a.m. ET (1:30 p.m. Polish time), the airlines had not released an official statement on social media, but only responded to comments posted on Bluesky, X, and Facebook.
“Hey @AmericanAir, just tell us to go home or not. Don't make us wait for hours at the airport,” wrote one user.
According to Reuters, the carrier operates thousands of daily flights to more than 350 destinations in more than 60 countries.
The agency mentions a similar situation two years ago. Southwest Airlines experienced a system failure over the holidays that caused the cancellation of 16,900 flights and stranded 2 million passengers. In the end, he was fined $140 million, the largest civil penalty for trip disruption.
Main image credit: Wenjie Zheng / Shutterstock
