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WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 37% of the airline’s 3,901 domestic and international flights leaving on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Nineteen 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.

Some components of FOS have gone down in the past, but a systemwide outage is rare, Tajer said.

Hours after the ground stop was lifted, Tajer said the union had not heard about any “chaos out there beyond just the normal heavy travel day.” He said officials were watching for any cascading effects, such as staffing problems.

On social media, however, customers expressed frustrations about delays that caused them or their family members to miss connecting flights. One person asked if American planned to hold flights for passengers to make connections, while others complained about the lack of assistance they said they received from the airline or gate agents.

Cirium noted that the vast majority of flights were departing within two hours of their scheduled departure time. A similar percentage — 36% — were arriving at their destinations as scheduled.

Dallas-Fort Worth, New York’s Kennedy Airport and Charlotte, North Carolina, saw the greatest number of delays, Cirium said. Washington, Chicago and Miami experienced considerably fewer delays.

Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 4,058 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed, with 76 flights canceled. The site had not posted any American Airlines flights on Tuesday morning, but showed in the afternoon that 961 American flights were delayed.

Amid the travel problems, significant rain and snow were expected in the Pacific Northwest at least into Christmas Day. Showers and thunderstorms were developing in the South. Freezing rain was reported in the Mid-Atlantic region near Baltimore and Washington, and snow fell in New York.

Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions.

That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “interline agreements” that let them put stranded customers on another carrier’s flights.

This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers an automatic cash refund for a canceled or significantly delayed flight. Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them.

Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. That’s because finding a last-minute flight on another airline tends to be expensive.

An American spokesperson said Tuesday was not a peak travel day for the airline — with about 2,000 fewer flights than the busiest days — so the airline had somewhat of a buffer to manage the delays.

The groundings happened as millions of travelers were expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers through Jan. 2.

Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations more disruptive than during slower periods. Even with just a brief outage, the cancellations have a cascading effect that can take days to clear up.

About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA.

“Airline travel is just really high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, and that is true for every holiday,” AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said.

Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.04 a gallon, down from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA. Charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per per kilowatt hour, but varies by state.

Transportation-data firm INRIX says travel times on the nation’s highways could be up to 30% longer than normal over the holidays, with Sunday expected to see the heaviest traffic. Boston, New York City, Seattle and Washington are the metropolitan areas primed for the greatest delays, according to the company.

AUSTIN – The Texas Tribune reports that Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick took to X on Wednesday, claiming President Joe Biden was attempting to auction off materials intended for construction of a border wall “for pennies on the dollar in secret.”

Some members of Congress made similar claims on social media and in interviews that the Biden administration was selling pieces of usable material to stifle wall-building efforts just a month before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump also weighed in, calling the auction an “almost a criminal act” during a press conference Monday.

“I’m asking today, Joe Biden, to please stop selling the wall,” Trump said.

The sale, however, was ordered last year by Congress, and Texas had already received material from the federal government — and purchased more earlier this year.

Here’s what you should know about the controversy:
What’s being sold and why?

The Trump administration invested $15 billion in border wall construction, buying material with the intent of constructing hundreds of miles of barriers across the southwest border. Most of the construction replaced or updated already-existing barriers, and today 140 miles of barrier — mostly built before the Trump administration — lines the Texas-Mexico border.

Trump estimated in his press conference Monday that about 200 miles’ worth of material was still unused after he left office and Biden halted most wall construction (some wall construction continued under Biden).

The plan for the unused material was decided in 2023, when Congress passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act and Republican lawmakers added a section directing federal officials to submit a plan to Congress on how to dispose of excess border wall material.

The Department of Defense submitted its plan in March, allowing the transfer of material to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and states, with a preference for southwest border projects. Congress required that any materials received by states be used to maintain current border barriers.

CBP, Texas and California received more than 60% of the material through a “reutilization, transfer, and donation process,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Patrick said in a Fox News interview Thursday that Texas also bought $12 million worth of material during a summer auction, enough to build about four miles of border wall.
How did wall materials end up being auctioned?

The remaining 40% was sold in June to government and military surplus company GovPlanet, which moved the materials to Arizona in December and listed them for auction on its website — some of it with starting bids of $5. GovPlanet had previously auctioned off other border wall material in late 2023.

Federal officials requested that GovPlanet remove them from auction after a Daily Wire article documented the materials being transferred to Arizona and called the move “an apparent effort to hinder President-elect Donald Trump’s effort to secure the border.” That prompted lawmakers like U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to call the move “sabotage” in social media posts referencing the article.

In the Fox News interview, Patrick framed the auction as a last-ditch attempt by Biden to hinder future wall construction by discarding usable materials, calling it a “Great Biden Christmas border wall heist.”

How are Texas officials trying to block the auction?

Trump said Monday that he spoke with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about blocking the auctions. A day later, Paxton filed a motion alongside Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham in a preexisting case, claiming the sale to GovPlanet violates a permanent injunction that a federal judge approved in May.

That injunction prevents the Biden administration from redirecting money intended for wall construction for other purposes — but it doesn’t mention wall materials. Paxton and Buckingham’s motion argues that because the materials were purchased with the restricted funds, selling them to GovPlanet violates the injunction.

“If border wall materials … were sold to third parties, it is as if DHS took the congressional appropriation and gave the funds to a third party — contrary to this Court’s command that those funds be used solely for the ‘construction of physical barriers,’” the motion states.

The motion also requests that the federal government provide the manufacture date and original funding source for each of the wall materials sold to GovPlanet.
Will Texas buy more of the wall material?

In a Dec. 13 post, Patrick said the materials on the auction block were not worth salvaging.

“The Texas Facilities Commission told us today that the material for sale was mostly junk, with most panels covered in concrete and rust,” Patrick posted. “There were a few panels that might be usable but not worth the cost of shipping to Texas from Arizona.”

But on Wednesday, Patrick claimed that the auction lot contained usable wall panels that were “not clearly seen before.”

Patrick said Texas would be willing to buy any usable wall panels if they become available.

He said GovPlanet assured Texas officials that the state would be the first notified when wall materials are put up for auction again.

Patrick also said that if the state purchased more wall materials, it would donate them to the federal government after Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Container Store has filed for bankruptcy protection as the storage and organizational goods retailer with roots dating back to the 1970s grapples with mounting losses and cash flow shortages.

The Texas company has faced increasing competition from retailers like Target and Walmart at the same time that demand for its goods is under strain in a rough housing market, where soaring prices and elevated mortgage rates have stunted sales.

Under Chapter 11 protection, The Container Store will continue to operate while it restructures.

The company said Sunday that it had filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas. The filing arrives two weeks after the trading of company shares was suspended by the New York Stock Exchange. The Container Store Group Inc. failed to maintain an average market capitalization of at least $15 million in accordance with NYSE rules.

Last month, The Container Store said that it was in advanced discussions with lenders to provide additional capital as it aimed to turn around sagging earnings and sales, according to a regulatory filing.

The company has struggled to raise cash, and last month an agreement with the owner of Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock and Zulily that would have come with a $40 million cash infusion fell apart. The Container Store said in a regulatory filing that it did not believe that it could match the financing requirements of the partnership with Beyond Inc.

The Container Store was founded in 1978 by Garrett Boone, Kip Tindell and investor John Mullen, who opened the doors of The Container Store’s first location in Dallas, according to the company. Neither of the men, Boone with a master’s degree in history and Tindell who was an English major, expected a career in retail. Yet both were driven by the idea of creating a store devoted entirely to storage.

The chain had its skeptics when Boon and Tindell opened their first 1,600-square-foot location. Yet the chain expanded to more than 100 stores ranging from 12,000 to 20,000 square feet, according to the company.

In 1999, The Container Store purchased one of its vendors, Elfa International. In 2021, it acquired Chicago’s Closet Works and launched its premium, wood-based line Preston shortly thereafter.

In its most recent quarter the company reported losses of $16 million, and comparable store sales, a good barometer of a retailer’s health, dropped 12.5%.

FORT WORTH (AP) — Longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Texas is having “unforeseen health challenges” that have worsened in the final months of her more than two decades in Congress, a statement from her office said Monday.

Granger, 81, has not cast a vote in Washington since July. In a statement provided by her office, Granger said she has been “navigating some unforeseen health challenges over the past year” but did not specify or elaborate.

“However, since early September, my health challenges have progressed making frequent travel to Washington both difficult and unpredictable,” the statement said.

Granger’s office did not immediately respond to questions emailed Monday about her condition or why they did not publicly disclose her health status earlier. Messages left with Granger’s family also were not immediately returned.

Granger announced in 2023 that she would not seek reelection, saying at the time that it was time for a new generation of leaders to step up. Granger also announced in March that she would step down as chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

First elected to Texas’ 12th Congressional District in 1996, Granger was the first Republican woman elected to represent the state in the U.S. House. Before that, she was the mayor of Fort Worth.

Her seat will be filled in January by Republican Craig Goldman, a former Texas House member, who was elected to the district that includes parts of Fort Worth, western Tarrant County and most of neighboring Parker County.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that it has launched an investigation into why several drones collided and fell from the sky during a holiday show over the weekend in downtown Orlando, Florida, injuring a 7-year-old boy who required surgery.

The drones fell into a crowd of thousands of people watching the show at the city’s Lake Eola Park Saturday night. The show was permitted through the FAA.

“Our thoughts are with the family and all those impacted by the outcome of this event,” the city of Orlando said in a statement. “The city remains in contact with the vendor and FAA who will conduct a thorough investigation.”

Adriana Edgerton told Orlando television station WESH that her son, Alexander, required surgery after being hit in the chest with a drone.

“The blade cut his mouth, but there’s an actual imprint of the drone on his chest,” Edgerton said.

Sky Elements Drone Shows, the Fort Worth, Texas vendor that put on the show, didn’t immediately respond to an emailed inquiry on Monday. On the company’s website, it said, “Every step of the way, we put accuracy, execution, and compliance first.”

Drone shows typically require a waiver to operate more than one drone at a time, and the FAA reviews each drone-show application to make sure “the flying public and people on the ground will be safe,” the agency said.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks found that elements of the law are unconstitutional.

“I respect the court’s ruling and will appeal,” Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said in a statement to The Associated Press.

The law would have created a new process to challenge library materials and request that they be relocated to areas not accessible to children. The measure was signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 2023, but an earlier ruling had temporarily blocked it from taking effect while it was being challenged in court.

“The law deputizes librarians and booksellers as the agents of censorship; when motivated by the fear of jail time, it is likely they will shelve only books fit for young children and segregate or discard the rest,” Brooks wrote in his ruling.

A coalition that included the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock had challenged the law, saying fear of prosecution under the measure could prompt libraries and booksellers to no longer carry titles that could be challenged.

“This was an attempt to ‘thought police,’ and this victory over totalitarianism is a testament to the courage of librarians, booksellers, and readers who refused to bow to intimidation,” said Holly Dickson, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas.

But supporters of the law, known as Act 372, say they will continue to fight for its implementation.

“Act 372 is just common sense: schools and libraries shouldn’t put obscene material in front of our kids,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement to KATV-TV. “I will work with Attorney General Griffin to appeal this ruling and uphold Arkansas law.”

The ruling comes as lawmakers in some conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books.

Laws restricting access to certain materials or making it easier to challenge them have been enacted in several other states, including Iowa, Indiana and Texas.

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This story removes a sentence in the penultimate paragraph of outdated material.

DALLAS – The Dallas Mornings News reports that American Airlines has settled the lawsuit filed by three Black men who were kicked off a flight in January over a “body odor” allegation, according to the law firms representing the men. Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal, all from New York, and five other Black men had boarded a flight from Phoenix to New York City in January, when a white flight attendant complained of someone’s odor, according to the suit. All eight men were then forced to deplane with no reason given. None of the men had known each prior to the incident, nor were they seated together. It was later that they learned of the body odor complaint, which they say they weren’t responsible for.

The plaintiffs alleged racial discrimination in their lawsuit, which was filed in May, and American has since “terminated the employment” of the flight attendants responsible, according to men’s law firms, Outen & Golden LLP and Public Citizen Litigation Group. “We are very pleased that American Airlines took our complaint seriously, and we hope that this never happens to Black passengers or any other people of color again,” the three plaintiffs said in the release Terms of the settlement are confidential. After the incident, American committed to conducting bias and discrimination training for employees and creating an advisory group focused on Black customers in order to prevent future discrimination. A statement from American emphasized its resolve to providing a “welcoming and inclusive” environment for fliers, and described the settlement as “amicable.”

AUSTIN – The Dallas Morning News reports that U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, wants to know why a Texas committee opted not to conduct in-depth investigations of pregnancy-related deaths from 2022 and 2023. Crockett and several other House Democrats wrote Thursday to Jennifer Shuford, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, requesting a briefing by Jan. 2 about the decision. Investigative news outlet ProPublica has identified several pregnant women in Texas who died after they couldn’t access timely reproductive care. Crockett accused Texas Republicans of trying to bury their stories. “We are demanding the Texas Department of State Health Services explain its reasoning behind its decision to stop reviewing maternal mortality deaths in the years following their abortion ban,” Crockett said in a news release. “The people of Texas deserve the truth.”

Texas Department of State Health Services officials did not respond Friday to an emailed request for comment. At issue is the 23-member Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee and its decision to skip over the two years in question and move on to reviewing 2024 cases in depth. That decision raised concern given the timing of the tight abortion restrictions adopted by the state. In 2021, Texas enacted a ban on abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, followed by a near-total ban on abortion a year later. The law has an exception allowing abortions in life-threatening situations, but the scope of that exception has been the subject of continuing confusion for some medical providers. Some committee members have said the decision was not politically motivated and described it as an attempt to catch up on a backlog of data and provide more up-to-date reviews of maternal deaths.