South Florida airports report significant delays, cancellations after American Airlines tech issue causes ground stop

American Airlines passengers at Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport are dealing with significant delays and cancellations after a technology issue forced the airline to halt flights on Tuesday evening.

American Airlines posted on X, saying a technology issue impacted its systems. The airline said it put a ground stop in place while it worked to resolve the problem and that systems are now coming back online.

The disruptions hit both South Florida airports. CBS News Miami found long lines wrapped around help desks at Miami International, with passengers looking for answers and growing increasingly impatient.

According to FlightAware, which tracks in real time flight delays and cancellations, American Airlines had 206 flights delayed and 40 flights cancelled coming out of Miami International Airport. That made up 34% of delayed flights and 6% of cancelled flights from Tuesday. 

As for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, 17 flights were delayed, and 4 were cancelled, making up 40% of the airport's delayed flights and 9% of its cancelled flights.  

Some travelers said they learned about the delays while already sitting on the tarmac.

"It's just chaotic. Disorganization and chaos," said Adam Cohen, a traveler at Miami International.

Another traveler, identified only as Pierce, described sitting on a plane for six hours and facing three hours of delays total.

"Tired. This sucks. On a flight for 6 hours. Delayed for 3 hours in total," Pierce said. He said he was not hopeful he would make it back to Dallas that night.

For thousands of passengers now rebooking or rerouting, many are spending the night in Miami.

"No, they haven't told us anything yet," Cohen said when asked about updates from the airline.

"I don't know. We are going to try and get a hotel. Stay the night. Try and find another place to go," said traveler Ava Eogner.