All American Airline flights are currently grounded on Christmas Eve due to an unspecified ‘technical issue.’ AA subsidiaries are also unable to fly, and the company says it can’t say when the problem will be fixed …
Update: It was later revealed the problem was a software outage preventing weight and balance calculations. Flights are now resuming …
American’s tweet rather understated the severity of the problem:
We’re currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights. Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we’ll have you safely on your way to your destination.
Our team is currently working to get this done. An estimated timeframe has not been provided, but they’re trying to fix it in the shortest possible time.
However, an FAA advisory made clear that it was a complete, nationwide grounding for all AA main and subsidiary airline flights.
- DESTINATION AIRPORT: ALL
- DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: ALL
- PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MED
- IMPACTING CONDITION: COMPANY REQUEST
- COMMENTS: NATIONWIDE GROUNDSTOP FOR AAL MAIN AND SUBS
The fact that all flights are grounded, irrespective of aircraft type, suggests a major IT outage. Some are suggesting that it’s a ransomware attack, but that is pure speculation as neither the airline nor the FAA has yet provided any explanation.
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