American Airlines halted U.S. flights after a technical problem

American Airlines halted flights due to technical issues on Thursday, 12 noon. Chicago, Miami and Dallas airports have been affected. The operation was resumed around 2 pm.

The Federal Aviation Authority tweeted that American Airlines flights to and from Chicago O'Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami were halted temporarily, "@AmericanAir requested a ground stop for all of their traffic in and out of DFW/ORD/MIA due to their computer issue," The Independent reported.

Despite that, the problem has been solved after two hours on three of its nine airport hubs. "We have resolved connectivity issues that led to a ground stop today at our Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami hubs," Andrea Huguely, American Airlines representative, confirmed.

The USA Today specified that the problem occurs around 12 pm ET. American Airlines was forced to suspend its flights on the three hubs including its partner, the US Airways.

The failure causes flights to be delayed on its affiliate, American Eagle, as well. The FAA said the planes were stuck at other airports. Around six flights in Chicago have been cancelled and 300 flights from American Eagle were delayed by over an hour, Chicago Tribune gives details.

The airline apologized to customers for the inconvenience. They said they were working out to keep flights to its normal schedule though they warn passengers to expect flight delays on the three airports.

At any rate, the airline won't be able to rebook flights on its competitor, Delta Air Lines, as the interline agreement was terminated on Tuesday. American Airlines said they mutually came up with the decision.      

The incident took place just a month before the merging of the US Airways reservation system. The company plans to combine the two systems over 90 days. They also started taking the loads of flight from the US Airways to reduce labor when it completed acquisition by October.

However, the airline denied the connection of the incident to the merging.