The Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center issued a nationwide ground stop for American Airlines flights shortly after 7 p.m. EDT on July 28, 2026, following an information-technology outage affecting the carrier’s operations.
Nationwide Ground Stop Ends as Flights Resume
The FAA lifted the ground stop by 8:10 p.m. EDT the same evening. American Airlines began flying again, including the departure of flight AA100 from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) at 7:24 p.m., and flight AA1069 from Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) to Miami International Airport (MIA) at 7:47 p.m.
Flights delayed during the stop reentered departure
queues, and arriving aircraft continued occupying gate space, resulting in disrupted connections and gate congestion during recovery.
Residual Ground Stops at Charlotte and Miami
After ending the nationwide ground stop, the FAA maintained two American Airlines-specific ground stops at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and Miami International Airport (MIA). The CLT restriction covered all American mainline and subsidiary departures, while the Miami stop applied solely to mainline operations.
Both remaining ground stops were classified by the FAA as “Other / Carrier Request.” The FAA did not clarify if these residual stops were direct consequences of the IT outage or related to operational constraints.
Concurrent Weather-Related Air Traffic Restrictions
Simultaneously, weather conditions caused
ground stops and delays across several Northeast and Mid-Atlantic airports. Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) operated under ground stop programs due to thunderstorms.
Additional delays and ground stops were reported at Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), JFK, New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA), and surrounding general-aviation airports.
American Airlines Statement and Uncertainties
American Airlines acknowledged the technology issue, stating: “A technology issue briefly impacted connectivity for some of our systems on Tuesday evening. We put a temporary ground stop in place while our teams worked to resolve the issue. Systems are
coming back online now and flights are departing again. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.” The airline emphasized efforts to restore full operations as quickly as possible.
The precise system affected, the cause of the outage, and whether it involved a cybersecurity event or vendor failure remain undisclosed. American Airlines has not confirmed the number of canceled or delayed flights tied specifically to this incident. Additionally, it is unclear if residual ground stops at CLT and Miami directly resulted from the outage or other operational factors.
FAA Ground Stops and Previous American Airlines Incident
The FAA’s use of ground stops is a routine traffic-management tool intended
to hold departures at gates during operational disruptions, without affecting airborne flights. The July 2026 event follows a separate nationwide technical interruption affecting American Airlines on December 24, 2024, which was resolved by system restoration and ground stop lifting.
There is no evidence linking the two incidents regarding cause or affected systems. Concurrent weather and air traffic constraints compounded travel challenges on the evening of July 28, impacting the overall U.S. airspace alongside the American Airlines IT outage.
