DALLAS – The ongoing impact of American Airlines’ technical problems on Tuesday morning as well as the storms in North Texas are causing major travel problems for people on Christmas Eve.

FlightAware.com shows inbound flights to DFW Airport are delayed 3.5 hours and inbound flights to Love Field are delayed by an hour due to the weather.

The backstory: Shortly before 7 a.m. Eastern time, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all American Airlines flights in the United States to be suspended at the airline’s request.

At the time, American Airlines said in a statement to FOX Television Stations that its teams were “working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”

The ground stop only lasted an hour, but the weather didn’t help airlines get back on track.

In the afternoon, arriving flights at DFW Airport and Love Field were delayed for several hours, which also resulted in some departures.

The FAA blamed weather and staffing for Tuesday’s travel delays and cancellations.

What people say: Brian Kenney travels to Illinois to visit his family. Before he arrived at DFW Airport, he learned of the ground stop.

“It’s supposed to be two hours late,” he said of his flight. “They already gave us the opportunity to cancel and receive a refund before telling us there was a delay.”

Lori Mulkey had to wait several hours for her daughter to arrive at the airport. Their plane was scheduled to land in Dallas at 9 a.m., but due to weather, the flight was diverted from Colorado Springs to Amarillo.

“I’m waiting for my daughter, who I haven’t seen in over a year,” she said.

Even though it’s not the Christmas Eve she had in mind, she’s happy to see each other again.

“It just put a damper on Christmas, literally and figuratively,” Mulkey said. “She said to me, ‘I’m sorry, Mom, you had to wait so long.’ I told her, “That’s okay, you’re worth it.” I can’t wait to see her.

Others FOX 4 spoke with did their best to stay positive. After all, it’s Christmas.

“Everyone is dealing with the problem and working to fix it. So just be patient and have a good mood,” said Jordan Wright, who is flying to Oklahoma.

What’s next: American Airlines did not provide any further information about the cause of the technical problem, only that it was one of its providers.

The airline urged all travelers to check their flight status on the American Airlines website.

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