December 24th 2024.
The holiday season is in full swing and travelers across the United States are gearing up for a busy time. However, there was a moment of panic when American Airlines suddenly announced a brief halt on their flights due to a technical issue. This caused a stir among passengers who were planning to fly or drive to their destinations amidst the winter weather conditions.
Thankfully, the Federal Aviation Administration stepped in and cleared the American flights to take off after an hour of the ground stop order. It was revealed that the issue was caused by a glitch in the flight operating system, or FOS, which is provided by one of the airline's vendors.
As a result of this unexpected hiccup, several flights were delayed and 19 were cancelled across American's major hubs. According to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, only 37% of the airline's 3901 domestic and international flights were able to depart on time.
Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, shared that the airline had informed pilots of the outage affecting the FOS system at 7am on Tuesday. This system handles various crucial operations such as dispatch, flight planning, passenger boarding, and weight and balance data for the aircraft. While components of FOS have faced issues in the past, a widespread outage is rare.
Fortunately, the chaos was contained and flights were back on schedule soon after the ground stop was lifted. However, the Allied Pilots Association kept a close eye on any potential complications, such as staffing problems, that could arise as a result of the delay.
Meanwhile, customers took to social media to express their frustrations with the delays and missed connecting flights. Some even questioned if American Airlines would hold flights for passengers to make their connections, while others complained about the lack of assistance from the airline or gate agents.
Bobby Tighe, a real estate agent from Florida, shared his disappointment as he was forced to miss a family Christmas Eve party in New York due to repeated flight delays. He had to choose between reaching his destination, Westchester, New York, on Christmas Day or taking a flight to Newark, New Jersey, that was scheduled to land in the evening. He opted for the latter and had to make arrangements for transportation from the airport to his original destination.
Despite the delays, Cirium reported that the majority of flights were departing within two hours of their scheduled time. However, this was not the case for all airports, as Dallas-Fort Worth, New York's Kennedy Airport, and Charlotte, North Carolina, experienced the most delays while Washington, Chicago, and Miami saw relatively fewer disruptions.
Meanwhile, FlightAware, a flight-tracking site, reported a total of 4058 delayed flights and 76 cancellations for flights entering or leaving the US, or serving domestic destinations. Although American Airlines did not have any flights listed on Tuesday morning, the site showed 961 delayed flights in the afternoon.
As the holiday travel season progresses, weather conditions can be unpredictable and can cause further disruptions. Significant rain and snow were expected in the Pacific Northwest, while showers and thunderstorms were developing in the South. The Mid-Atlantic region near Baltimore and Washington reported freezing rain while New York saw snowfall.
Unfortunately, such unexpected situations can have a snowball effect on the already busy holiday travel season. In 2022, Southwest Airlines faced a major setback when 2 million travelers were left stranded due to various issues, and Delta Air Lines also suffered a significant meltdown due to a technology outage caused by faulty software.
During the holiday season, most flights are sold out, making cancellations even more disruptive. This is especially challenging for budget airlines with limited flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta, and United, have agreements that allow them to put stranded passengers on another carrier's flights.
The new Transportation Department rule that requires airlines to provide automatic cash refunds for cancelled or significantly delayed flights is a relief for customers. Previously, customers had to request refunds, which could be a lengthy process. However, during peak travel periods, rebooking flights may be a better option than getting a refund, as last-minute flights are often costly.
An American spokesperson shared that Tuesday was not a peak travel day for the airline, with about 2000 fewer flights than the busiest days, giving them some room to manage the delays.
The timing of the groundings was particularly frustrating as millions of travelers are expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration predicts 40 million passengers to be screened through January 2. The busiest days for airlines are expected to be on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.
However, most Americans traveling long distances during the holiday season prefer driving, according to AAA. Aixa Diaz, a spokesperson for AAA, shared that while airline travel is high, the majority of people still opt for driving to their destinations. Gasoline prices are similar to last year, with an average of $3.04 per gallon, and charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per kilowatt-hour, varying by state.
But with the increase in road travel, transportation data firm INRIX predicts up to 30% longer travel times than usual, with Sunday being the busiest day on the highways. Boston, New York City, Seattle, and Washington are expected to experience the most delays.
In the midst of all the holiday chaos, don't forget to stay updated on the latest news, sports, politics, and weather with the 9NEWS app. Download it now from the Apple App Store or Google Play to receive notifications straight to your smartphone.
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