Christmas Eve travel plans for millions of Americans have been thrown into chaos after American Airlines was forced to ground all its flights due to a technical issue.
A snow storm which blew in on the East Coast at the same time as the outage has only added to the travel woes, with the wintery conditions bringing flights to standstill at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
The disruption comes on one of the busiest days for festive travel, with hundreds of flights already delayed or cancelled.
American Airlines has since lifted the ground stop, which was due to a ‘vendor technology’ issue, but a ripple effect is still being felt across the country.
American Airlines grounds all flights on Christmas Eve due to ‘technical issue’
American Airlines has been forced to request a ground stop for all its flights due to the ongoing system outage.
‘A technical issue is affecting American flights this morning,’ the carrier said in a statement.
‘Our teams are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.’
Ground stop in place at LaGuardia Airport
Travelers heading from New York are in for more mysery, after snow which blanketed the Big Apple has resulted in a ground stop at LaGuardia Airport.
A FAA notice indicates that the halt has been brought in due to snow and ice.
Inbound flights are currently experiencing delays of around 15 minutes according to the airport.
Passengers are advised to check with their airline for latest information on delays to departures.
Almost 800 flights in the US delayed or cancelled
FlightAware’s misery map reveals that the number of delayed or cancelled flights has continued to rise despite a temporary halt on flights being lifted.
There were 786 delays and seven cancellations expected between 7am and 11am according to the flight tracker.
Most disruption was being recorded at Dalla Forth Worth Airport in Texas where another ground stop has been brought in due to heavy thunder storms.
Delays pile up at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport
American Airlines’ services may have resumed, but at Chicago O’Hare International Airport the knock on effects of the delays are already being felt.
Images show how passengers have begun piling up in the busy departure hall.
O’Hare is typically among the busiest airports in the US.
Between December 20 and January 2, around 3.6 million passengers are expected to pass through Chicago’s two airports.
WATCH: Moment passengers forced to de-plane American Airlines flight
Passengers flying American Airlines out of Boston had a rocky start to their journey after they were forced to de-plane before even moving an inch.
The nationwide groundstop meant that their flight had to be temporarily paused while the airline worked through its technical issues.
Video shows grouchy passengers grumbling as they collect their items before eixiting the plane.
The ground stop has since come to an end, but a ripple effect of delays is still being felt.
American Airlines says glitch was due to ‘vendor technology issue’
American Airlines has issued a statement explaining that the system outage which grounded flights this morning was due to a ‘vendor technology issue’.
The technology is required to operate the airline’s system to release flights.
‘That issue has been resolved and flights have resumed,’ the airline said.
‘We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning.
‘It’s all hands on deck as our team is working diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible.’
Passengers can find the latest information on their flight using the mobile app and aa.com.
Passengers break into applause as flights resume
Travellers across the country have begun to report services are resuming.
In Miami, news that the glitch had ended was met with applause from passengers.
‘System is slowly coming back,’ a gate agent said, prompting the outburst.
Behind her a notice board indicated that the Philadelphia flight had been delayed by at least an hour.
Chaos at Louisville airport amid delays
Lengthy have begun to build at Louisville International Airport in Kentucky.
Disgruntled passengers could beseen stood around in the departure hall as they await updates.
‘It’s absolute chaos here right now, Louisville is a mid-sized airport so I can only imagine what places like Atlanta looks like after the American Airlines system glitch,’ reporter Hayden Smith said.
Snow could threaten to derail travel plans further
A snow storm which has blown in on the East Coast could jeopardize travel plans even further.
The wintery scenes arrived just in time for rush hour and could prove an unwelcome early Christmas gift.
Meanwhile on the West Coast, a bomb cyclone has dumped heavy rain, snow and high winds in parts.
Snaking lines form at Texas airport’s check-in desk amid delays
Queues began to form early in the morning at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport following the ground stop.
American Airlines passengers are being advised to check for updates to their itinterary even though the ground stop has now been lifted.
FAA lifts ground stop
The Federal Aviation Authority has ended the ground stop affecting all American Airlines flights.
The ground stop was lifted at 7:50am EST, an hour after it was put in place.
Delays are still expected across the country as the airline scrambles to get back on track.
More than 150 flights delayed or cancelled
The early morning groundstop has already resulted in around 160 cancelled or delayed flights, accoridng to FlightAware.
Between 5am and 9am, there were 156 delays and four cancelled flights.
Most delays were being reported at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport.
AA passengers say they are being asked to deplane
‘Technical issue’ to blame for nationwide AA ground stop
