Utah family experiences flight delays on Christmas Eve due to American Airlines malfunction

On By Littum

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — While Santa can enjoy a plane without delays, many others who flew on Christmas Eve did not.

American Airlines said a supplier’s “technical error” caused some delays on many flights across the country on the day before Christmas.

For others, the weather got in the way, so many had to wait hours for grounded planes.

Rilie Pierce and her family from Utah County were some of those people, and it made for a rough Christmas Eve.

“There was a good solid phase where I wanted to cry because we have our kids with us and they’re going to be home for Christmas,” Pierce said.

They boarded their American Airlines flight in Orlando at 9 a.m., two hours late due to the supplier’s technology issue that delayed American Airlines flights across the country.

The FAA grounded all American Airlines flights around 6:50, but flights resumed about an hour later.

The delays were just beginning for Pierce and her family.

“The pilot came in and said we had to be diverted back to New Orleans because the weather was so bad in Dallas that they couldn’t get us in,” Pierce said.

Pierce said after landing in New Orleans, they spent four hours sitting on the plane waiting to take off again.

Eventually they were able to reach Dallas, but delays continued.

“We’ve been sitting on the tarmac for almost three hours trying to get off,” Pierce told KUTV while still waiting for the plane in Dallas.

Pierce said there were no gates for the diverted planes, so they had to stay on board.

“We have no food on the plane because they gave it all out,” she said. “There is no more water on the plane because they sent it all out.”

They ended up spending more than 10 hours on a plane just trying to get home for Christmas.

The good news is that Pierce and her family were finally able to reach Salt Lake when their flight came in around 10:00 p.m.

When they landed Tuesday night, Pierce sent KUTV a text saying, “We ran home alone through the airport and they opened the gate for us. I’ve never been happier to see Salt Lake than tonight.”

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