American computer glitch stops flights at DFW for two hours

For two hours Thursday, American Airlines had “connectivity issues” with its computers, causing significant delays at three of its hub airports.

The computer problems meant passengers had trouble checking in for flights, customers struggled to buy tickets on American’s website and flight dispatchers were not getting all the information they needed to allow flights to arrive or depart at Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago and Miami airports.

The issues started around 11 a.m., leading American to ask the Federal Aviation Administration for a ground stop, which kept flights destined for those airports from taking off. Flights already in the air were able to land at DFW, and some flights were able to take off.

The stoppage started around 11:30 a.m. and ended around 1:15 p.m., when American said in a Twitter message that its technical problems had been resolved.

“We have resolved connectivity issues that led to a ground stop today at our Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami hubs,” spokesman Casey Norton said. “We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to get our customers on their way as soon as possible.”

The airline said it had six cancellations in Chicago because of the computer problems and significant delays across its network. According to FlightStats.com, DFW had one cancellation and 303 delayed arrivals.

American is preparing to integrate US Airways’ passenger reservation system with its own in October. The airline also recently opened a new integrations operations center in Fort Worth that houses 1,600 employees overseeing 6,700 daily flights. Neither was related to the computer issues Thursday.

In July, United Airlines also asked the FAA for a two-hour ground stop on all its flights worldwide as it dealt with problems in its reservation system. The Chicago-based airline blamed a router malfunction and dealt with significant delays the rest of the day.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 12:32 PM with the headline "American computer glitch stops flights at DFW for two hours."