American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a national ground stop for the airline. The order, which prevented planes from taking off, was issued at the airline’s request after it experienced trouble with its flight operating system, or FOS. The airline blamed technology from one of its vendors. As a result, flights were delayed across American’s major hubs, with only 36% of the airline’s 3,901 domestic and international flights leaving on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Fifty-one flights were canceled. Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, a union representing American Airlines pilots, said the airline told pilots at 7 a.m. Eastern that there was an outage affecting the FOS system. It handles different types of airline operations, including dispatch, flight planning, passenger boarding, as well as an airplane’s weight and balance data, he said.<br/>
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Thousands of travelers trying to make it to their loved ones for the holidays were stuck at airports through much of Tuesday after American Airlines briefly grounded all its flights in the United States because of a technical issue and bad weather made those delays worse. The worst of the troubles were centered at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which is American Airlines’s largest hub and is one of the country’s busiest airports. The travel problems began on Tuesday morning when systems that are needed to release flights malfunctioned because of what American said in a statement was a vendor technology issue. Then came the weather: A system of storms that prompted a flood warning moved into the Dallas area and hundreds of flights were delayed even after the technical issue was resolved about an hour later. By Tuesday night, only 15% of flights at Dallas Fort Worth had departed on time, according to Cirium, an aviation data company. And earlier, the airline also requested that a ground stop for flights headed to the airport be extended until 8:30 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The thunderstorms caused average departure delays of more than two hours at Dallas Fort Worth, according to FlightAware, an aviation tracker. For many, the wait was even longer. For those planning to travel on Christmas Day through the airport, the Dallas-Fort Worth region was expected to have cloudy but otherwise calm weather. On Thursday, travelers passing through the airport after the holiday face the possibility of more thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service’s forecast. It was not immediately clear on Tuesday night when the airline and the airport expected to clear all delayed flights.<br/>
British Airways owner IAG SA is in discussions with Elon Musk’s Starlink to outfit its jet fleet with Wi-Fi service, reflecting the increasing inroads SpaceX’s satellite internet business is making with major global carriers. IAG, which also owns Spain’s Iberia and Ireland’s Aer Lingus, hasn’t made a final decision and is weighing options with multiple providers including Amazon.com Inc.’s nascent Project Kuiper, the airline group’s head of innovation, Annalisa Gigante, told Bloomberg in an interview. “We are working a lot, both with Starlink and with Amazon’s Kuiper,” Gigante said. “We’ve got some really exciting things coming up, but that’s going to be for next year.” The talks underscore a looming shakeup in the aviation services market fueled by the deployment of satellite constellations orbiting closer to Earth. Airlines are inking deals with Starlink and others to replace costly, limited in-flight Wi-Fi. Expanded satellite bandwidth has helped to produce web-surfing experiences closer to what consumers expect on the ground. <br/>
As Ocean Infinity gets ready for another round of scouring the ocean floor for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 aircraft, aviation experts say the complex mission comes with various factors to consider, including previous data, the technology used, cost and human emotions. Oliver Plunkett, the CEO of the Texan-based marine robotics company, said his team is finalising details of the project and more will be revealed next month. “After a long wait, the Transport Minister’s statement is great news. We look forward to sharing further updates in the new year once we’ve finalised the details and the team gets ready to go,” he said briefly when contacted. On Dec 20, Anthony Loke announced that the Cabinet has agreed in principle to resume the search operation for the ill-fated MH370, more than six years since the last effort was suspended. Assoc Prof Major Dr Mohd Harridon Mohamed Suffian said that evidence gathered so far must be thoroughly validated to ensure the search effort is credible and worthwhile. “An independent review of the data is crucial to offer practical perspectives and validate the methods to be used,” said the aviation search and rescue head of Universiti Kuala Lumpur’s Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology. He urged Ocean Infinity to consider using methods such as Swarm Technology, which deploys multiple underwater vehicles simultaneously.<br/>