American Airlines: Planes grounded after 'tech glitch' just hours after United hit

Passengers on board American Airlines flights were "stuck on the tarmac" after the airline was forced to ground planes due to a technology glitch. Numerous flights were heavily delayed, sparking travel chaos for passengers.

It comes just hours after rival United Airlines was hit by a similar problem. The airline requested the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to pause departures at US and Canadian airports for around half an hour. United "experienced a brief connectivity issue just before midnight Central time on Tuesday, but has since resumed normal operations."

A spokesperson for American Airlines told the Express: "American is aware of a technical issue impacting some of our maintenance applications.

"No flights have been canceled at this time and our teams are actively troubleshooting. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."

At the time American say they were "utilising alternative procedures for closing out flights which is resulting in some delayed departures".

The issue caused strings of flights to be delayed. At Dallas Fort Worth International Airport handfuls of American flights were delayed. Meanwhile, am American Airlines plane bound to New York from Dallas was cancelled.

Disgruntled passengers rushed to X to express their annoyance at being stranded on the tarmac.

One wrote: "What is going on with @AmericanAir? They told us 2 plus hours ago about a national tech glitch. They say all planes have been grounded for the moment and we have been on the tarmac since then."

"Another delay @AmericanAir. Flight 402. Pilot just announced some electrical issues that need to be addressed creating some manual operations that will delay us. Some day I pray I get to fly on an on time American Airlines flight", wrote a second

The same user added: "Pilot announced we are still on hold. Waiting to speak to maintenance in Dallas."