Horrible timing for American Airlines.
I very much hope that you are having a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season as you are reading this. If you are at an airport waiting to hear about your American Airlines flight – or at least you were going through that earlier today – you probably aren’t having a Merry Christmas or a Happy Holiday season.
Probably more like a “I can’t believe I thought I could trust American Airlines” season.
After experiencing a technical problems, the FAA grounded all American Airlines flights. The technical problem was later explained as a “vendor technology issue,” though that explanation wasn’t giving Christmas Eve travelers any peace of mind. The issue apparently began around 6 A.M. this morning, and was officially resolved around four hours later.
It’s believed that the technical glitch grounded and delayed almost 1000 flights, which are now all in the process of getting back on track. And while American Airlines was busy trying to put out fires, much of the internet was torching the airline company with memes that likened the horrible holiday breakdown to the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
I don’t know about you, but I was really enjoying all of the John Candy memes that flooded my timeline:
“The FAA just grounded all American Airlines flights nationwide” pic.twitter.com/Y7m5hnUma3
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) December 24, 2024
Every passenger stranded on Christmas Eve thanks to American Airlines doesn’t need to think of this as a Christmas apocalypse but as their obvious chance to become the main character in a Hallmark movie.
— Tim Roberts (@21stCenturyTim) December 24, 2024
American Airlines trying to figure out how to scan their boarding passes pic.twitter.com/FJW8W5dD4r
— kate (@GrimaceLover8) December 24, 2024
🚨 American Airlines is currently experiencing a widespread system outage, grounding flights with no immediate resolution in sight pic.twitter.com/tIgpx07oPy
— 🌸 DigiGal (@DigitalGal_) December 24, 2024
When you put your trust in American Airlines to get you home for Christmas. pic.twitter.com/28WD6T3fJj
— Hopeless Semantic (@JimBlower) December 24, 2024
American Airlines just grounded all of their flights. Today. pic.twitter.com/BDLouwlg0G
— CageyBee (@CageyBee33) December 24, 2024
The “I’ll be home for Christmas” song didn’t anticipate you would fly American Airlines
— BlockedByKirkHerbstreit.algo (@blockedbyherbie) December 24, 2024
It’s Christmas Eve and all American Airlines flights are grounded.
But worry not, Gus Polinski cares about you and has an extra spot for you to ride with the Kenosha Kickers in their van so you can still reach your destination. pic.twitter.com/JvYPoAjSbI
— Matt, Preschool Diploma (@statomattic) December 24, 2024
I would imagine that a lot of people were at American Airlines counters across the country sounding and looking like Clark Griswold after he found out his Christmas bonus was a subscription to the jelly of the month club.
Fortunately though, it appears that American Airlines eventually figured out their issue and got Christmas travelers on their way to wherever they were going for the holidays.
We have resolved a vendor technology issue that briefly affected flights this morning. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and have issued a travel alert to allow for additional flexibility. https://t.co/lAp094H8cx
— americanair (@AmericanAir) December 24, 2024
