American Airlines flight update: Operations resume in US after ground stop order on Christmas Eve

American Airlines, said that the ground stop on all US flights has been lifted just a little before 8 am ET (6:30 pm IST), and flights were starting to board.

“American Airlines reported a technical issue this morning and requested a nationwide ground stop. The ground stop has now been lifted,” the Federal Aviation Administration stated following the disruption Tuesday morning, as per US media reports.

The world's largest aircraft operator grounded all its flights in the US on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, due to an unspecified technical issue, according to the company and a notice on the Federal Aviation Administration website. When the disruptions were first reported it was unclear how long the ground stop would be in place.

American Airlines ground stop

American Airlines did not provide an explanation for halting all flights. Many passengers took to social media to report that their flights were stranded on the runway at various airports and were now being returned to the gate, reported Reuters.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop order for all American Airlines flights at the request of the airline.

‘Don' t make us wait for hours’

“Hey, American Air just tell us whether we should go home or not. Please don't make us wait in the airport for hours,” one user wrote.

"An estimated timeframe has not been provided, but we're trying to fix it in the shortest possible time," the company said in a post on X, responding to another stranded flyer's question.

American Airlines

American Airlines operates thousands of flights daily to over 350 destinations across more than 60 countries. The world's largest airlines was named the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index again in 2024. This marks the airlines getting the name for a second time in a row.

American Airlines ground stop came just months after airlines were affected by a global tech outage linked to Microsoft's Azure cloud platform and a software issue at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.