AN American Airlines system outage saw flights grounded for thousands of passengers, sparking widespread Christmas Eve travel chaos.

Passengers across the nation demanded answers from the carrier as some were being told to wait in boarding areas while others were ordered to de-plane aircraft.

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An American Airlines representative told The U.S. Sun that a technical issue impacted all flights.

“A vendor technology issue briefly affected flights this morning. That issue has been resolved and flights have resumed,” a spokesperson said.

The problem affected systems releasing flights.

Bosses at the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for all American Airlines flights that lasted about an hour before being canceled.

Some passengers said they were delayed for at least 90 minutes.

Travelers also reported issues scanning boarding cards.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport has been thrown into chaos as American accounts for nearly 90% of the flights at the North Carolina airport.

Mechanical issues aren’t the only factors in travel chaos as weather problems are also affecting flights across the country.

Storms around northern Texas have caused delays, holds, and diversions for multiple flights going in and out of the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, according to FlightRadar24.

DFW confirmed to The U.S. Sun that there’s currently a ground delay program in place due to thunderstorms.

DEMANDING ANSWERS

Travelers all over the country urged AA to provide more details as they were unexpectedly left sitting on the tarmac.

One passenger heading to Miami from St. Louis asked, “What is going on?”

A representative responded, “Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we’ll have you safely on your way to your destination.”

Another traveler, jetting out of Nashville, said she didn’t want lengthy delays at the airport.

“American Air, just tell us whether we should go home or not,” she said.

“Please don’t make us wait in the airport for hours.”

Travelers begged for frequent updates online, but officials could only say they’re working to fix the issue.

“An estimated timeframe has not been provided, but they’re trying to fix it in the shortest possible time,” a representative said.

They reiterated to another angry customer on X, “At present, we don’t have an exact timeframe. Rest assured, our team is working on getting you back on track as soon as possible. We appreciate you hanging in there with us!”

Even after AA said their vendor technology issue was fixed on Tuesday afternoon, furious customers demanded more information from the airline.

“I think travelers would like to know exactly what’s going on. Anyway to get a little more info?” one wrote on X.

“Can you please give a detailed info on what happened? if its outdated technology, admit it, own it, and lets get that updated y’all,” another ordered.

“Which vendor? And why did it not affect other airlines? Spill the beans!” a third said.

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Frustrated travelers urged American Airlines to provide snacks following the inconvenience.

Meanwhile, others feared that they would miss their connecting flights.

“Will flights get shifted to the right,” one traveler posted on X.

“It’s our honeymoon. This is a horrific inconvenience [at the] last minute.”

The travel chaos upended the early morning travel plans of thousands, and delays are still likely – even though the ground stop is now over.

STRANDED ON CHRISTMAS EVE

Footage taken at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport in Florida showed passengers waiting by the gate as airport staffers informed them about the situation.

Airport workers told passengers they would get regular 15-minute updates and explained that no one could board planes due to the outage.

One passenger, heading to Miami from Texas, told the ABC affiliate WPLG-TV that the pilot told travelers their plane couldn’t take off.

“The pilot told us it’s the software that calculates the baggage weights for each flight, so no one can take off,” they said.

David Myers encountered chaos when he was trying to fly out to New Orleans from Salisbury, Maryland.

He slammed American Airlines for the lack of information, per CNN.

“It’s Christmas Eve, so complaining doesn’t seem quite right,” he said.

“And safety always comes first. But more information at the gate would be helpful.”

Another passenger at Boston Logan Airport revealed they’ve been told to de-plane their aircraft as a result.

‘ABSOLUTE CHAOS’

In footage shared on X, travelers were told to collect their belongings and return to the boarding area.

Kevin Lighty, a meteorologist for the CBS affiliate WCIA-TV, shared on Facebook that he also was ordered to de-plane.

Also, footage from Louisville airport showed passengers congregating around desks and boarding gates.

“It’s absolute chaos right here right now,” local reporter Hayden Smith said.

“Louisville is a mid-sized airport so I can only imagine what places like Atlanta look like after the American Airlines systems glitch.”

More than 2,000 outage reports were logged on Downdetector, and over 80% of these cite delays.

The outage comes as millions of Americans will take to the skies over the holidays.

Transportation Security Administration officials have revealed they expect to screen around 40 million passengers right up to January 2.

American Airlines said it expects its busiest travel day to be December 27.

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