Early into the busy Christmas Eve morning, American Airline planes called the Federal Aviation Administration with a horrible message to start the busy holiday season: ground all planes. For an hour, all flights were affected by a glitch, causing a significant amount of delays. The airpots that were hit the hardest, as some of the busiest travel hubs in the nation, were Dallas Fort Worth, New York, and DC.
After an an hour, an announcement came in that flights could be boarded again, but the damage had already been done, and the residual effects will likely be felt well into the day.
Between 7 and 11am, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport saw over 860 delays and 4 cancellations.
According to FlightAware’s Misery Map, Reagan National (KDCA) is currently experiencing:
- departure delays an average of 50 minutes (and decreasing)
- arrival delays for airborne aircraft an average of 43 minutes (and decreasing)
There was over 1,400 delays during the time the glitch took place. TSA reported that over 1 million more people traveled on December 22nd 2024 than the same day 2023.