American Airlines Computer Glitch Grounds Flights Across U.S., Including San Jose
SAN JOSE (CBS/AP)- American Airlines stopped a handful of flights out of San Jose Mineta International Airport and other major cities including Dallas, Chicago and Miami on Thursday because of a computer-systems problem.
American spokesman Casey Norton said the airline did not immediately know the cause of the outage, which began around 11 a.m. CDT.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that American Airlines planes destined for Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, O'Hare Airport in Chicago and Miami International Airport were being held on the ground until midafternoon.
As of 11:15, the company tweeted that the problem had been resolved.
We've resolved connectivity issues that caused challenges at DFW, ORD and MIA. We're sorry and will have you on your way soon.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) September 17, 2015
American did not immediately say how many flights were affected.
Spokesperson Rosemary Barnes at SJC said they had 3 American Airlines flights affected by the grounding as of 11 a.m. The delays are about 90 mins each.
As of 10:15 a.m, San Francisco International reported no delays related to the outage.
Delay Tracker: See which airports around the country are experiencing problems.
The outage comes at an awkward time for American Airline Group Inc., the world's biggest airline. In less than a month, the company plans to complete combining the reservations systems of American and its US Airways subsidiary and retiring the US Airways brand.
Combining technology systems is a difficult feat that has tripped up other airlines, notably leading to several outages at United Airlines after it merged with Continental Airlines in 2010. United suffered two major outages this summer.
American has made meticulous plans to avoid a similar fate. Among other moves, it will reduce flights to lighten the load on its network while it combines the two reservations systems.
TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten. The Associated Press contributed to this report.