Flight delays are never fun—but especially not on one of the year’s busiest travel days when everyone’s just trying to make it to their friends and family on time. However, that didn’t stop the FAA from issuing a full ground stop for American Airlines flights across the nation on Christmas Eve morning, a request from the airline itself after detecting a “vendor technology issue.”
According to the Associated Press, more than 1,000 flights entering or departing the U.S. were delayed this morning, along with 28 flight cancellations. Moreover, the FAA website still lists numerous flights deicing (a process of removing ice and snow from an aircraft).
The FAA lifted the nationwide ground stop for American Airlines around 8am this morning. American Airlines posted an apology to X, stating how they are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience caused.
In response to the morning’s events, American Airlines released a travel alert for those traveling to/from/through the following cities:
- Austin, Texas (AUS)
- Boston, Massachusetts (BOS)
- Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT)
- Chicago, Illinois (ORD)
- Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas (DFW)
- Los Angeles, California (LAX)
- Miami, Florida (MIA)
- New York Kennedy, New York (JFK)
- New York LaGuardia, New York (LGA)
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL)
- Phoenix, Arizona (PHX)
- Washington Reagan, Washington D.C. (DCA)
Affected passengers on American Airlines flight who were set to fly today that purchased their ticket by December 23rd, 2024, aren’t changing destinations, and can travel between December 24th – 26th can modify their trip without a change fee.
As we know, flight delays and cancellations can snowball into tons of delays even after the original issue is resolved. So if you’re planning on traveling today, be sure to stay up to date with your air carrier, the FAA and your departure and arrival airports.
If you’re flying out of NYC’s LGA you can check your flight status online with the LGA flight tracker. Same goes for the JFK flight tracker. A current search of departing American Airlines flights from JFK show various delays for today.
Safe travels, NYC and happy holidays!