SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — While Santa may enjoy a delay-free flight, this was not the case for many other flights on Christmas Eve.

American Airlines said a “technical malfunction” by a provider caused delays on many flights across the country the day before Christmas.

For others, the weather got in the way, forcing many to wait for hours on grounded planes.

Rilie Pierce and her family from Utah County were some of those people, and it was a tough Christmas Eve.

“There was a good solid period where I wanted to cry because we have our kids with us and they want to be home for Christmas,” Pierce said.

They boarded their 9 a.m. American Airlines flight in Orlando, two hours late because of a problem with provider technology that delayed American Airlines flights across the country.

The FAA suspended all American Airlines flights around 6:50 a.m., but flights resumed about an hour later.

For Pierce and her family, the delays were just beginning.

“The pilot came and said we needed to be diverted back to New Orleans because the weather in Dallas was so bad they couldn’t get us in,” Pierce said.

Pierce said after landing in New Orleans they sat on the plane for four hours waiting to take off again.

Eventually they managed to reach Dallas, but delays continued.

“We sat on the tarmac for almost three hours trying to get out,” Pierce told KUTV while still waiting on the plane in Dallas.

Pierce said there were no gates for the diverted planes, so they had to remain on board.

“We don’t have any food on the plane because they distributed everything,” she said. “There is no more water on the plane because they have distributed everything.”

They ended up spending more than ten hours on a plane just to get home for Christmas.

The good news is that Pierce and her family were finally able to make it to Salt Lake when their flight arrived around 9 p.m

When they landed Tuesday night, Pierce texted KUTV saying, “We ran through the airport like we were at home and they opened the gate for us. “I’ve never been happier to see Salt Lake than I was tonight.”

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