18/09/15: American Airlines has become the latest air travel firm to have its planes grounded by network faults.
Unspecified "technical issues" caused delays at airports in Miami, Dallas and Chicago, with planes reportedly sitting around for up to two hours after it began at about midday in Miami.
The problems apparently stemmed from "connectivity issues", leading the company to request that the FAA hold departures at the three affected airports.
American Airlines reported that the faults were resolved a few hours later, stating on Twitter that "we're sorry and will have you on your way soon".
These issues follow several high-profile flight groundings earlier in the year, including one occasion where American Airlines' tablet-based administration systems caused delays to passengers.
Back in July, a computer glitch grounded all United Airlines flights worldwide, as the multinational airline was forced to briefly suspend all of their air traffic after an unspecified computer error.
The company released a statement on Twitter regarding the stoppage, saying that it had "experienced a network connectivity issue," also stating that they were "working to resolve and apologise for any inconvenience".
However, this did not stop legions of passengers taking to social media to voice their frustration at being prevented from checking in, with some customers reportedly stranded on the tarmac for over an hour.
This is not the first time United Airlines has suffered because of a computer failure. In June, it also experienced nationwide grounding due to "automation issues" that some claim were the result of a hack.
The ground stop affected around 3,500 flights. However, the firm offered to waive all additional charges and fees for customers affected.
The increasing regularity of incidents like this highlights the fragility of the systems that hold the aviation industry together.
In order to illustrate this, earlier this year security researcher Chris Roberts allegedly hacked into the avionics of the aircraft he was travelling on from his seat using the in-flight entertainment system.
He was barred from travelling on the United Airlines flight in April, following tweets joking that he could force the overhead oxygen masks to deploy.
