Passengers across the US were left stranded on Tuesday evening after American Airlines suffered a “systemwide IT outage” that forced the carrier to ground all flights nationwide. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the stoppage, which took effect from 6.30pm ET and applied to every flight and facility run by the airline. Aircraft already on the tarmac were unable to take off, while planes sat at gates waiting for the all-clear.
The airline scrambled to resolve the crisis, posting on social media: “Our IT team is working as quickly as possible to get our system back up.” Travelers faced mounting frustration as the outage dragged on, with no immediate explanation for the technical failure. The carrier later issued an apology, stating: “We put a temporary ground stop in place while our teams worked to resolve the issue. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
“American Airlines grounded all US flights due to a systemwide IT outage, resuming after an hour.”
By 7.20pm ET, the airline announced that “systems are coming back online now and flights are departing again.” Flightradar24 reported that American Airlines and regional carriers operating on its behalf had 130 fewer flights airborne than at the same time the previous week, underscoring the scale of the disruption. The cause of the outage remains unclear, but the rapid resolution suggests the issue was contained. The incident is likely to raise questions about the vulnerability of airline IT systems and the cascading impact on travelers during peak hours.
