Amid what is set to be the busiest holiday season ever for air travel in the United States, American Airlines passengers have suffered Christmas Eve disruption today, after the company briefly sought a ground stop from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

FAA orders stop on all American flights

At 6:50 a.m. ET, the FAA revealed that it had ordered a ground stop for all American Airlines flights in the US, having issued the instruction at the company’s own request. An hour later, the FAA announced the cancellation of the stop.

AAL reports “technical issue”

American Airlines is yet to fully explain why it asked the FAA for the ground stop, but said in a social-media post that it had been hit by a “technical issue.”

“We’re currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights,” the carrier said on its X account. “Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we’ll have you safely on your way to your destination.”

Per ABC, American Airlines has said some flights are now beginning to board. At the time of writing, however, it appeared that normal service was yet to resume across all the carrier’s US flights.

At shortly before 9:00 a.m. ET, American Airlines said to an X user who reported that he had been forced to de-board his flight: “At present, we don’t have an exact timeframe [on the technical issue being fully resolved]. Rest assured, our team is working on getting you back on track as soon as possible. We appreciate you hanging in there with us!”

How to track your American Airlines flight

If you are travelling with American Airlines today, you can check the status of your flight on the company’s live tracker.

TSA anticipating leap in holiday air travel

According to a press release issued by the US Department of Transportation last week, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen around 40 million people between December 19 and January 6, up 6.2% on the numbers experience in the 2023 holiday season.

What is a ground stop?

Per the FAA, a ground stop is “a process that requires aircraft that meet a specific criteria to remain on the ground”. Such a stop can be applied both locally and nationally. The body adds that a ground stop can be called due to airport or airspace conditions, or – as is apparently the case in today’s American Airlines stop – problems with equipment.

“GSs [ground stops] normally occur with little or no warning,” the FAA adds.

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