Travel

American Airlines grounded all U.S. flights on Christmas Eve, disrupting holiday travel…

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The Federal Aviation Administration reported that American Airlines requested a “ground stop” for all flights, which was lifted on December 24 at 8 a.m. ET.

A “technical issue” caused all American Airlines (AA) flights across the U.S. to be grounded on Christmas Eve.

The airline announced the disruption on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating, “We’re currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights.” They emphasized that passenger safety remained their “utmost priority” and assured travelers they would be on their way once the problem was resolved.

According to NBC News, the ground stop was lifted at 8 a.m. ET.

Before the resolution, an AA spokesperson told CNN that the airline was working to “resolve the issue as quickly as possible” and apologized to customers for the inconvenience caused to their holiday travel plans.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advisory notice, American Airlines (AA) requested a ground stop for all its flights. CNN reported that the FAA redirected all inquiries about the incident to the airline.

In response to questions about the disruption timeline in the comments section of their X post, an airline spokesperson stated they were “trying to fix it in the shortest possible time.”

One frustrated traveler expressed concern about the impact on their plans, posting, “What about connecting flights? I really don’t want our family vacation getting ruined because of this.”

“Thanks for messing w [with] family holidays,” one traveler shared in frustration.

However, many others expressed gratitude to the airline for prioritizing passenger safety. One X user wrote, “Thank you for taking safety above everything else.”

American Airlines has not yet responded to PEOPLE’s request for an update.

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