American Airlines has temporarily suspended flights due to a technical issue

American Airlines briefly suspended its U.S. flights Tuesday morning due to a technical issue that halted travel during what carriers expect to be a period of record holiday demand.

By 7:55 a.m. ET, the ground shutdown had been lifted, an American Airlines spokesperson told CNBC. The ground shutdown lasted less than an hour, but more than 900 major American Airlines flights were delayed, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. That was more than 38% of American’s schedule for Tuesday and more delays than any other American carrier. However, only 11 main flights were cancelled.

The airline’s regional carrier subsidiary Envoy also reported another 200 flight delays. In addition to the earlier ground shutdown, American also faced thunderstorms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where its largest hub is located.

The problem was a problem with network hardware involving a platform using DXC technology, a vendor that supports the flight operating system that allows flights to leave the gate, American said in a statement.

The system is linked to critical data such as aircraft weight and balance, which are required before the flight leaves the gate.

“This issue has been resolved and flights have resumed,” the carrier said in a statement. “We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said American requested a ground stop.

Airlines routinely require ground stops that hold flights at the point of origin so that destination airports are not overwhelmed by flights that have nowhere to park when there are disruptions. In addition to technical problems, ground brakes are applied for thunderstorms and other severe weather conditions.

American operated a reduced schedule on Christmas Eve compared to other days around the Christmas holiday. The carrier has not had any cancellations related to the issue, a spokesman said.

Airlines’ patchwork systems of critical technology platforms have drawn more attention recently following periods of mass flight cancellations such as Southwestcrash during the holiday season in late 2022. and Deltathe struggle to recover from CrowdStrike break last summer.

Correction: The ground suspension was issued on Tuesday. An earlier version incorrectly specified the time.