American Airlines
All US domestic flights bound for Miami, Dallas and Chicago were halted for nearly three hours REUTERS/John Gress

American Airlines has resumed operations after a "technical issue" left planes grounded. All US domestic flights bound for Miami, Dallas and Chicago were halted for nearly three hours on Thursday (17 September) at 1200 local time in Miami (1600 GMT).

An airline spokesperson said the ground halt was the result of a computer-systems outage.

"We've resolved connectivity issues that caused challenges at DFW, ORD and MIA," the airline tweeted just after 1pm CDT. "We're sorry and will have you on your way soon."

The incident comes as American Airlines is preparing to finalise the merger of reservations systems of American and its US Airways subsidiary.

According to flight-tracking website FlightAware.com, 262 American Airlines flights reported delays and five have been cancelled. Passengers who suffered delays to their journeys turned to social media to express their dissatisfaction.

It's the latest embarrassment for the airline after an American Airlines plane, not certified to travel long distances, was flown from Los Angeles to Hawaii on 31 August. The mix-up happened when an A321S plane equipped with less safety and medical equipment, was used instead of a A321H.

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