American Airlines IT Outage: Flights Resume After System Connectivity Restored Following FAA Nationwide Ground Stop
The FAA has lifted the nationwide ground stop on American Airlines after a systemwide IT outage disrupted flights across the US. The airline confirmed connectivity has been fully restored and flights are departing again. Charlotte Douglas International Airport remains under localized restrictions as crews work through flight backlogs and delays.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the nationwide ground stop on American Airlines after a systemwide IT outage disrupted operations across the carrier's network on Tuesday evening, July 28. Later, the airline confirmed that system connectivity has been restored and flights are departing again, although restrictions remain at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), where congestion continues to affect operations.
The nationwide ground stop, which began at approximately 6:29 p.m. ET, affected American Airlines and its regional affiliates across the United States. While most services have resumed, the FAA's updated advisory said Charlotte remains under a localized ground stop as the airline works through a backlog of delayed flights. Spirit Airlines Shuts Down: US-Based Airline Says It Has Started Winding Down Its Global Operations Effective Immediately.
American Airlines Flights Resumes
A technology issue briefly impacted connectivity for some of our systems on Tuesday evening. Systems are coming back online now and flights are departing again. We put a temporary ground stop in place while our teams worked to resolve the issue. We apologize to our customers for…
— americanair (@AmericanAir) July 28, 2026
FAA Narrows Restrictions to Charlotte Airport
According to the FAA's revised advisory, the nationwide order has been lifted, allowing most American Airlines flights to resume normal operations.
However, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, one of the airline's largest hubs, continues to face operational challenges. Certain incoming American Airlines flights bound for Charlotte are being held at their origin airports because of heavy congestion. Southwest Airlines, Once Known for Its Free Bags Perk, Raises Checked Baggage Fees.
Ground delays for flights arriving in Charlotte have increased significantly, with average delays climbing from 24 minutes to 49 minutes. The FAA also said many flights could experience substantially longer delays and noted there is a 30% to 60% chance the localized ground stop could be extended beyond its scheduled end time.
American Airlines Confirms Systems Restored
American Airlines said the disruption was caused by a technology issue that briefly affected connectivity across some of its systems.
"A technology issue briefly impacted connectivity for some of our systems on Tuesday evening," the airline said. "Connectivity has been fully restored. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience. We appreciate the efforts of our team to bring our systems back online so quickly and take care of our customers."
The airline had earlier acknowledged the outage and said its IT team was working to restore affected systems as quickly as possible.
"We put a temporary ground stop in place while our teams worked to resolve the issue. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience," American Airlines said.
"Our team's working hard to get everyone back on track asap, and we're sorry for the inconvenience," the air carrier added. The airline has not said what caused the outage.
Website and App Also Affected
As the disruption unfolded, American Airlines posted on X: "We're aware of a technical issue and have engaged our IT team to address it asap. We're sorry for any inconvenience." Users online also reported that the airline's website and mobile app were experiencing outages during the incident.
American Airlines later posted another update on X: "A technology issue briefly impacted connectivity for some of our systems on Tuesday evening. Systems are coming back online now and flights are departing again. We put a temporary ground stop in place while our teams worked to resolve the issue. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."
The FAA's ground stop meant that American Airlines flights that had not yet departed were temporarily prevented from taking off until the issue was resolved.
The incident also occurred as several airports along the US East Coast were already experiencing delays and ground stops because of thunderstorms, adding to travel disruptions for passengers.
While most American Airlines operations have now resumed, travellers flying through Charlotte are expected to continue experiencing delays until the backlog is cleared.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 29, 2026 07:21 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
