ROCHESTER, NY (WHAM) – American Airlines flights across the country were suspended for a time early on Christmas Eve, just as the busy holiday travel season was getting underway.

MORE: FAA lifts grounding of all American Airlines flights on Christmas Eve

The technical issue caused multiple delays and outages as people try to get home to their loved ones.

For some travelers it was a day of frustration, while others were just grateful to have reached their destination.

“We just waited a little bit and kept getting text messages,” said Susanne Litzelman, a Canandaigua resident who was traveling to Charlotte. “There was a delay, typically an hour and a half.”

Several delays lined the flight board at Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport on Tuesday morning – mostly American Airlines, but also JetBlue, United and Southwest Airlines.

“We planned to be home in the afternoon, do a few things and wrap a few last-minute presents,” said Veronica Lewin, who was flying back to New York City. “Now things are pushed back a few hours.”

“My flight was supposed to be 11:58 a.m., but when I was about to leave the house, I saw that it was 12:48 p.m.,” recalled Tonimi Rotimi-Ojo, who was flying to Dallas. “When I got here I saw it was pushed back to 1:28.”

A couple was thinking about driving to Charlotte to make it in time for Christmas.

“It would have taken about 11 hours, but we’re anxious to get there,” Litzelman said. “We have two granddaughters to see and they are 3 1/2 and 2 years old, so we really want to be there in the morning.”

Another passenger was just hoping he found his connection.

“Tomorrow I will be with some of my friends from my church,” Rotimi-Ojo said. “I think it’s going to be a good time.”

American Airlines sent a statement to 13WHAM that read:

An issue with one provider’s technology briefly affected flights this morning. This issue has been resolved and flights have resumed. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning. It’s all hands on deck as our team works diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible.

“You can do this once a year, so hopefully it doesn’t ruin it,” Rotimi-Ojo said.

“Just hang in there and be nice to everyone,” Litzelman said. “Hopefully everything goes as smoothly for you as it did for us.”

American said the technology issue impacted the systems needed to clear flights and that the ground stop lasted about an hour.

At last check, no flights from Rochester were canceled, but some were experiencing hours-long delays.

_____