Heavy travel day starts with brief grounding of all American Airlines flights

WASHINGTON (AP) — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive.

Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a national ground stop for the airline. The order, which prevented planes from taking off, was issued at the airline's request after it experienced trouble with its flight operating system, or FOS. The airline blamed technology from one of its vendors.

As a result, flights were delayed across American’s major hubs, with only 36% of the airline's 3,901 domestic and international flights leaving on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Fifty-one flights were canceled.

Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, a union representing American Airlines pilots, said the airline told pilots at 7 a.m. Eastern that there was an outage affecting the FOS system. It handles different types of airline operations, including dispatch, flight planning, passenger boarding, as well as an airplane's weight and balance data, he said.

Some components of FOS have gone down in the past, but a systemwide outage is rare, Tajer said.

Hours after the ground stop was lifted, Tajer said the union had not heard about any “chaos out there beyond just the normal heavy travel day.” He said officials were watching for any cascading effects, such as staffing problems.

On social media, however, customers expressed frustration with delays that caused them or their family members to miss connecting flights. One person asked if American planned to hold flights for passengers to make connections, while others complained about the lack of assistance they said they received from the airline or gate agents.

Bobby Tighe, a real estate agent from Florida, said he will miss a family Christmas Eve party in New York because his American flight was repeatedly delayed. The delays made him miss a connecting flight, leaving him the choice of going to his destination — Westchester, New York — on Christmas Day or taking another flight to Newark, New Jersey, that was scheduled to land Tuesday evening. He chose the latter.

“I’m just going to take an Uber or Lyft to the airport I was originally supposed to go to, pick up my rental car and kind of restart everything tomorrow,” Tighe said. He said his girlfriend was “going through the same exact situation” on her way from Dallas to New York.

Cirium noted that the vast majority of flights were departing within two hours of their scheduled departure time. A similar percentage — 39% — were arriving at their destinations as scheduled.

Dallas-Fort Worth, New York’s Kennedy Airport and Charlotte, North Carolina, saw the greatest number of delays, Cirium said. Washington, Chicago and Miami experienced considerably fewer delays.

Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 4,058 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed, with 76 flights canceled. The site did not post any American Airlines flights on Tuesday morning, but it showed in the afternoon that 961 American flights were delayed.

Amid the travel problems, significant rain and snow were expected in the Pacific Northwest at least into Christmas Day. Showers and thunderstorms were developing in the South. Freezing rain was reported in the Mid-Atlantic region near Baltimore and Washington, and snow fell in New York.

Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions.

That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “interline agreements” that let them put stranded customers on another carrier’s flights.

This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights. Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them.

Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. That’s because finding a last-minute flight on another airline tends to be expensive.

An American spokesperson said Tuesday was not a peak travel day for the airline — with about 2,000 fewer flights than the busiest days — so the airline had somewhat of a buffer to manage the delays.

The groundings happened as millions of travelers were expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers through Jan. 2.

Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA.

“Airline travel is just really high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, and that is true for every holiday,” AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said.

Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.04 a gallon, down from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA. Charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per per kilowatt hour, but varies by state.

Transportation-data firm INRIX says travel times on the nation’s highways could be up to 30% longer than normal over the holidays, with Sunday expected to see the heaviest traffic. Boston, New York City, Seattle and Washington are the metropolitan areas primed for the greatest delays, according to the company.

Associated Press writers David Koenig, Mae Anderson and Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.

Travellers pass the main terminal of Denver International Airport Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Travellers queue up to pass through the south security checkpoint in the main terminal of Denver International Airport Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Young traveller queues up at a United Airlines self-check kiosk in Denver International Airport Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Passengers self-check baggage at the American Airlines terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, after American Airlines briefly grounded flights on Christmas Eve because of a technical problem. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)

An employee wearing a Santa Claus hat walks past boards showing flight delays, in the American Airlines terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

An employee wearing a Santa Claus hat walks past boards showing flight delays, in the American Airlines terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Cesar Davila, who works for the American Airlines partner providing wheelchair assistance, wears a Christmas tree hat and festive glasses as he waits for a traveler to help inside the American Airlines terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Cesar Davila, who works for the American Airlines partner providing wheelchair assistance, wears a Christmas tree hat and festive glasses as he pushes a traveler through the American Airlines terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Two travelers nap near the Alaska Airlines ticketing area at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Travelers wait in line for security checks at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Marie Digna, traveling to Grand Rapids, Mich., enters security with her two sons, Lucian, right, and Samson, at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Travelers wait in line for security checks at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

American Airlines employees, some wearing Santa Claus hats, check in travelers in the American terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

An American Airlines employee wearing a Santa Claus hat walks through the American terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

An American Airlines employee wearing a Santa Claus hat looks toward quiet check-in counters in the American terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

FILE - American Airlines planes wait at gates at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Friday, July 19, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s online media association said two reporters were killed and several others were wounded in a gang attack on Tuesday on the reopening of Port-au-Prince’s biggest public hospital.

Street gangs have taken over an estimated 85% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and they forced the closure of the General Hospital early this year. Authorities had pledged to reopen the facility Tuesday but as journalists gathered to cover the event, suspected gang members opened fire in a vicious Christmas Eve attack.

Robest Dimanche, a spokesman for the Online Media Collective, identified the dead journalists as Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean. Dimanche said an unspecified number of reporters had also been wounded in the attack, which he blamed on the Viv Ansanm coalition of gangs.

Haiti’s interim president, Leslie Voltaire, said in an address to the nation that journalists and police were among the victims of the attack. He did not specify how many casualties there were, or give a breakdown for the dead or wounded.

“I send my sympathies to the people who were victims, the national police and the journalists,” Voltaire said, pledging “this crime is not going to go unpunished.”

A video posted online by the reporters trapped inside the hospital showed what appeared to be two lifeless bodies of men on stretchers, their clothes bloodied. One of the men had a lanyard with a press credential around his neck.

Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two police officers were wounded. Police and officials did not immediately respond to calls for information on the attack.

Street gangs have taken over an estimated 85% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. They forced the closure of the General Hospital early this year during violence that also targeted the main international airport and Haiti’s two largest prisons.

Authorities had pledged to reopen the facility Tuesday but as journalists gathered to cover the event, suspected gang members opened fire.

Video posted online earlier showed reporters inside the building and at least three lying on the floor, apparently wounded. That video could also not be immediately verified.

Johnson “Izo” André, considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader and part of a gang known as Viv Ansanm, which that has taken control of much of Port-au-Prince, posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for the attack.

The video said the gang coalition had not authorized the hospital’s reopening.

Haiti has seen journalists targeted before. In 2023, two local journalists were killed in the space of a couple of weeks — radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April that year, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead later that month.

In July, former Prime Minister Garry Conille visited the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, more widely known as the General Hospital, after authorities regained control of it from gangs.

The hospital had been left ravaged and strewn with debris. Walls and nearby buildings were riddled with bullet holes, signaling fights between police and gangs. The hospital is across the street from the national palace, the scene of several battles in recent months.

Gang attacks have pushed Haiti’s health system to the brink of collapse with looting, setting fires, and destroying medical institutions and pharmacies in the capital. The violence has created a surge in patients and a shortage of resources to treat them.

Haiti’s health care system faces additional challenges during the rainy season, which is likely to increase the risk of water-borne diseases. Poor conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have heightened the risk of diseases like cholera, with over 84,000 suspected cases in the country, according to UNICEF.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Medics inspect an ambulance of wounded people, shot by armed gangs at the General Hospital, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

The wife of a journalist, who was shot during an armed gang attack on the General Hospital, cries as an ambulance arrives with his body, at a different hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

The wife of a journalist, who was shot during an armed gang attack on the General Hospital, cries as an ambulance arrives with his body, at a different hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Residents walk past cars set on fire by armed gangs in the Poste Marchand neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Journalists lie wounded after being shot by armed gangs at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Dieugo Andre)