The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop for American Airlines on Tuesday evening after a systemwide IT outage temporarily halted all flights. The outage, which lasted under an hour, did not affect flights already in the air.
Immediate Action & Core Facts
The FAA issued an advisory about the ground stop, which was implemented while American Airlines' IT teams worked to resolve the issue. The airline confirmed the outage impacted connectivity for some of its systems, including its app and boarding processes. According to Downdetector, there were over 1,500 reports of issues with American Airlines’ systems at around 6:30 p.m. ET, with 52% of users reporting problems with the carrier’s app.
Deeper Dive & Context
American Airlines issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter) apologizing for the inconvenience and stating that systems were coming back online. The Air Traffic Control System Command Center confirmed that all airports and facilities were impacted by the IT outage. The airline also noted that a temporary ground stop was put in place while the issue was resolved.
The outage did not cause any reported safety incidents, and flights resumed shortly after the issue was addressed. The FAA and American Airlines did not provide further details on the cause of the IT failure or the specific systems affected.