American Airlines flights across the country were halted Tuesday evening after a systemwide technology outage disrupted the carrier’s operations. The FAA confirmed a nationwide ground stop was issued around 6:30 p.m. Eastern as connectivity problems took down internal systems, the airline’s website, and its mobile app simultaneously.
Aircraft already in the air were allowed to land as normal, but no American Airlines flight was permitted to depart until the issue was resolved. The airline said the outage affected “connectivity for some of our systems” without specifying a cause, and travelers reported being unable to check in, view boarding passes, or rebook through the app during the disruption.
The ground stop lasted just under an hour, with American announcing systems were restored by 7:21 p.m. Even so, the ripple effects lingered: tracking service Cirium reported only 37% of American’s flights departed on time Tuesday, and just 36% arrived on schedule, as crews and aircraft scrambled to get back into position.
The airline said it did not expect a significant number of cancellations as a result of the outage, but delays were still working through the system into Wednesday. Passengers on American flights this week should check flight status before heading to the airport and keep a downloaded copy of any boarding passes in case the app is unreliable again.
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