By Utkarsh Shetti, Abhijith Ganapavaram and David Shepardson
(Reuters) -American Airlines said on Tuesday its flights had resumed after a technical problem forced the airline to issue an hour-long ground stop, disrupting travel for thousands of people on Christmas Eve, one of the busiest times of the year.
The issue that briefly affected the airline’s ability to get its planes in the air involved network hardware and was caused by DXC Technology (NYSE:), a control systems provider responsible for maintaining flight operations, according to the airline.
While customers were still pressing for details about their delayed flights, the relatively short disruption means American is likely to avoid a full-blown meltdown that could last for days during the peak holiday travel season.
The airline scheduled 3,901 flights worldwide on Tuesday, with 19 canceled, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
However, according to Cirium, only 37% of flights have departed on time so far, while 36% have arrived on time.
“Not a good start to travel on Christmas Eve as the current flight is grounded and the captain is unable to provide an ETA to resolve a system glitch and/or paperwork error at a national level. Will also make connections or refunds more complicated,” one user had said, tagging American. Airlines (NASDAQ:) at X.
Tuesday’s downside is the latest technical issue after carriers were hit earlier this year by a global technical outage related to Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:) Azure cloud platform and a software glitch at cybersecurity company CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:).
The outage cost Delta Air Lines (NYSE:) at least $500 million.
Two years ago, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:) suffered a systems meltdown during the holidays, leading to 16,900 flight cancellations and stranding 2 million passengers. It was ultimately fined $140 million, the largest civil fine ever for a travel disruption.
Airlines have upgraded their cybersecurity and operational software systems, but given that there has been an exodus of talented workers during the pandemic, the problems of recent years are not entirely unexpected, said Ken Quinn, a partner at law firm Clyde & Co.
American Airlines operates thousands of flights per day to more than 350 destinations in more than 60 countries.
The US Federal Aviation Administration referred to the airline in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday, reiterating that the airline had reported a technical problem.
The problem with American was reportedly the inability of an automated system to calculate or provide weight and balance data (passenger/baggage/cargo mass and overall center of gravity) needed to legally operate each flight, Robert Mann said, a former airline executive who now runs a consultancy firm.
The management system may have been unable to load and calculate engine power and take-off performance requirements, he said.
One of its US hubs, Dallas-Fort Worth, also experienced arrival and departure delays, which the airline attributed to adverse weather conditions.
The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen a record 40 million passengers during the holiday season.
