American Airlines flights were grounded system-wide because of a computer problem (Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times)
If you’re flying American Airlines later today or tomorrow, including from Sea-Tac Airport, be ready for delays and cancellations as planes and crews will be out of place, thanks to a computer outage that grounded the carrier’s planes system-wide earlier today.
American said its computer system was repaired as of about 1.30 p.m. (Pacific time) but thousands of American Airlines customers were stranded at check-in counters, airport gates and aboard planes as the airline struggled to fix the problem that began earlier today.
Check your flight’s status before you go to the airport. American Airlines is not a major carrier at Sea-Tac Airport, but flights to Chicago and Dallas are affected, according to Flight Stats, an online tracking system. Here’s what American has posted on Twitter for affected travelers:
“Our systems have been fully restored, however we expect continued flight delays and cancellations throughout the remainder of the day. We have made several options available to our customers:
If customers must travel today and are already at the airport, they can rebook on another airline by visiting an American Airlines agent or by going to the other airline’s ticket counter with their electronic ticket number.
If customers must travel today and are not yet at the airport, they can rebook through American Airlines reservations or through another carrier and American will honor the fare difference.
If a customer chooses not to travel today, there will be no charge for reservation changes or a full refund will be provided.
It is important to note we see no evidence that today’s technical outage is related to the tragic events in Boston.
We will continue to provide more information throughout the day as we make progress in resolving this issue. We apologize to our customers and our people for this inconvenience.”