American Airlines is grounding flights nationwide due to ‘technical issues,’ FAA and airline say

A “technical issue” disrupted American Airlines flights nationwide early Tuesday, the airline said, at the start of a busy Christmas Eve for travelers around the country.

The Federal Aviation Administration said American requested a ground stop for all its flights.

“We are currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights,” the airline wrote a post to X.

The post added: “Your safety is our highest priority, once this is fixed we will have you safely on your way to your destination.” In response to questions from other social media users, the airline said it was unable to estimate how long the resolution would take.

The airline wrote that it did not yet have a “time frame” but that “they are trying to fix it in the shortest possible time.”

In a statement sent to ABC News, the airline added: “Our team is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”

The disruption will be unwelcome to a record number of Americans expected to travel this holiday season. The Transportation Security Administration said it expects to screen nearly 40 million travelers from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2 — a 6.2% increase from 2023.

American Airlines said it expected Dec. 27 and Dec. 20 to be its busiest and second-busiest days, respectively, during the holiday period that began Dec. 18.

This is a development story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Ayesha Ali, Clara McMichael and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.