American Airlines Booking Outage Disrupts Nationwide Reservations

FORT WORTH- American Airlines (AA) experienced a significant booking system outage on Monday, leaving customers unable to search or reserve flights for several hours.

The outage affected users accessing the airline’s website and app, particularly those flying from major hubs like Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

The disruption, which began around 11:00 EST, lasted approximately four hours and did not impact other carriers such as Delta Air Lines (DL), United Airlines (UA), or Southwest Airlines (WN), reported Simple Flying.

American Airlines has confirmed the issue was due to a vendor-related systems failure.

Photo: Clément Alloing

American Airlines Booking Outage

The first reports of a system-wide outage at American Airlines surfaced late Monday morning, with DownDetector and social media platforms lighting up with user complaints.

Customers trying to book flights or manage reservations through American’s website or mobile app were met with automated messages stating, “Our system is having trouble.”

By mid-afternoon, the airline’s systems were gradually restored. However, during the disruption, flight searches, new bookings, and even employee system access were non-functional. Call centers experienced a surge in wait times, reportedly exceeding two hours, as frustrated travelers sought assistance through phone support.

Notably, the issue was isolated to American Airlines. Major competitors, including Delta Air Lines (DL), United Airlines (UA), and Southwest Airlines (WN), reported no disruptions.

This suggests that the outage was not due to a widespread cyber event but likely tied to a specific third-party service provider working with American.

Photo: Aero Icarus | Flickr

Vendor Blamed for Service Interruption

By early afternoon, American Airlines acknowledged the outage and attributed the disruption to a “vendor-related issue.” Although the airline did not identify the vendor publicly or offer an estimated time for resolution, technicians were said to be actively working on a fix.

This announcement brought to mind past outages triggered by third-party software failures.

In particular, the July 2024 CrowdStrike incident, which resulted from a faulty Windows security update, caused massive operational impacts across the U.S. aviation industry. However, unlike that event, Monday’s outage appeared to be isolated and resolved within a few hours.

Photo: JFK Spotting

Sabre System History

Given American Airlines’ long-standing partnership with Sabre Corporation, which provides its SabreSonic Passenger Service System, speculation naturally turned toward Sabre.

In April 2019, a similar outage tied to Sabre’s platform grounded the airline’s reservation, check-in, and boarding systems across multiple airports.

That incident also impacted other Sabre clients like Alaska Airlines (AS) and JetBlue (B6). However, neither carrier reported issues on Monday, suggesting that a different IT vendor may be responsible for the current outage. American has not confirmed the identity of the affected vendor as of publication.

By 15:30 EST, system functionality appeared to return, albeit slowly. Flight searches, booking functions, and user access resumed, though some platforms still experienced lag. Reports on DownDetector sharply declined, signaling that most services had been restored.

Affected customers are advised to monitor the airline’s official channels for updates.

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