‘Glitch’ That Grounded American Airlines Flights Fixed
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Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images(DALLAS) — A “glitch” in the American Airlines reservations system that grounded flights nationwide has been fixed, the airline said Tuesday afternoon.
“Our systems have been fully restored, however we expect continued flight delays and cancellations throughout the remainder of the day,” the airline posted on its Facebook page at 4:30 p.m. ET.
All American and American Eagle flights had been grounded as the carrier worked out a problem with its reservation system. The airline had cancelled 7,500 flights as of late Tuesday afternoon as a result of the outage.
American Airlines spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan said the network system was experiencing “intermittent outages.” The “glitch” was with the reservation system, but it was unclear whether it was a hardware or a software problem, she said.
The airline was trying to deal with passengers that were stranded, she said. There will be no charge to passengers who wish to change their reservations, and the airline said it would provide full refunds for passengers whose travel plans are not flexible.
According to the airline’s website, the carrier flies 3,400 flights on an average day and carries 275,000 passengers.
In February, the airline announced its plans to merge with US Airways. The combined airline will create the nation’s largest carrier. Last month, the airlines received merger approval from a bankruptcy court judge. AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2011.
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