A glitch in a computer system has left thousands stranded at the airport ahead of a busy July 4 holiday weekend.
American Airlines is facing major backlash after it reported that over 12,000 flights were left without pilots because of a glitch in its scheduling platform.
"They failed to keep the IT system running properly and now thousands of flights do not have pilots assigned to them," Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines captain and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, said.
Causing uncertainty for passengers and pilots, the airline made a statement, saying, "We have become aware of a technical issue with our Trip Trade with Open Time System (TTOT)… we understand these are important tools for our pilots and are working as quickly as possible."
More than 7,000 flights were delayed and 535 were canceled on Friday as travelers were eager to get to their destinations for the holiday.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, American Airlines says it does not expect it to cause an "operational impact."
"Our pilot trip trading system experienced a technical issue… as a result of this technical glitch, certain trip trading transactions were able to be processed when it shouldn't have been permitted. We already have restored the vast majority of the affected trips and do not anticipate any operational impact because of this issue," the statement read.
According to the Washington Examiner, the airline permanently canceled flights to Toledo, Ohio; Ithaca, New York; Islip, New York, beginning September 7.
Several airlines have also cut their flights by about 15 percent from June to August to make the remaining flights more reliable.
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