BOSTON – A quick national overview American Airlines ground stop was a traveler’s worst nightmare on Tuesday, Christmas Eve.

American Airlines ground stop

A total of 25 American Airlines flights from Boston were delayed during what was expected to be the busiest holiday season on record for the airline. The good news is that no flights have been canceled.

“I woke up this morning, looked at my news feed and was shocked,” said David, who spent the last few days with his extended family in Boston. His American Airlines flight home was delayed Tuesday due to a domino effect after the ground stop.

As a result, he had to find another way back to Washington DC

“I looked for more information, looked for alternative flights and then American sent me a message,” David said.

Why were American Airlines flights delayed?

On Tuesday morning, passengers received an email from the airline saying that the systems needed to clear flights had failed. The technical problems forced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground all aircraft.

“It’s all hands on deck as our team works diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible,” American Airlines said in a statement.

The systems are now operational again, but the damage occurred because many passengers were affected.

“We were supposed to leave today around 12:30 p.m.,” said Yun Wen, who wanted to go to Guatemala to see volcanoes and national parks but instead spent an extra day at Logan Airport after missing a layover due to the four-hour delay in Boston.

“I’m still lucky we can get her tomorrow, but I wish I could get her today,” said Sean, who was traveling with Wen.

American Airlines’ ground stop ended around 8 a.m. Tuesday. But the terminal in Logan remained empty as passengers waited for their delayed flights to take off.

“The estimated departure time is still being estimated, so we’ll see how it goes,” David said.