Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — American Airlines flights across the country were grounded for some time early Christmas Eve, just as the busy holiday travel season ramps up.
MORE: FAA lifts ground stop for all American Airlines flights on Christmas Eve
The technical issue caused several delays and cancellations as people try to get home to their loved ones.
It was a day of frustration for some air travelers, while others were just thankful to make it to their final destination.
“We just waited it out a little bit and kept getting text messages,” said Susanne Litzelman, a Canandaigua resident who was traveling to Charlotte. “It was delayed an hour, hour-and-a-half, which is typical.”
Several delays lined the flight board at the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport Tuesday morning — mostly American Airlines, but also JetBlue, United and Southwest Airlines.
“We were planning to be home by mid-afternoon, take care of a few things, wrap a couple of last-minute gifts,” said Veronica Lewin, who was flying back to New York City. “Now, things are pushed back a couple of hours.”
“My flight was meant to be 11:58, but when I was about to leave the house, I saw it moved to 12:48,” recalled Tonimi Rotimi-Ojo, who was flying to Dallas. “When I got here, I saw it was moved again to 1:28.”
One couple thought about driving to Charlotte to make it in time for Christmas.
“It would have been about 11 hours, but we really want to get there,” Litzelman said. “We have two granddaughters to see, and they’re 3 1/2 and 2, so we really want to be there tomorrow morning.”
Another passenger was just hopeful he made his connection.
“Tomorrow, I’m going to be with some of my friends from my church,” Rotimi-Ojo said. “I think it’s going to be a good time.”
American Airlines sent a statement to 13WHAM, reading:
A vendor technology issue briefly affected flights this morning. That issue has been resolved and flights have resumed. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning. It’s all hands on deck as our team is working diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible.
“You get to do this once in a year, so hopefully it doesn’t get ruined,” Rotimi-Ojo said.
“Just hang in there and be nice to everyone,” Litzelman said. “Hopefully, everything will go smooth for you as it did for us.”
American said the technology issue impacted the systems needed to release flights, and the ground stop lasted about an hour.
As of last check, no flights out of Rochester were cancelled, but several faced hours-long delays.
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