The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that a ‘nationwide groundstop’ of all American Airlines flights has been lifted.

Earlier, the FAA reported a technical issue affecting the carrier’s entire system.

The problem has been resolved and the system is running again.

Delays are still expected after the hour-long outage with flight tracker Flightradar24 posting on X that “it will take some time for flights to get back to normal”.

Services are expected to be departing on time by the afternoon.

American Airlines flights to Europe temporarily grounded

The temporary disruption came as millions of people are travelling for the holiday season, including back home to Europe.

American Airlines flies to 15 countries in Europe with destinations including the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

In social media replies to frustrated travellers, the airline said: “Our team is currently working to rectify this. Your continued patience is appreciated.”

The company has now released a statement saying, “A vendor technology issue briefly affected flights this morning”.

“That issue has been resolved and flights have resumed. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning,” it continues.

“It’s all hands on deck as our team is working diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible.”

The FAA’s website confirmed that American Airlines requested a ‘nationwide groundstop’ for its flights, including those operated by its subsidiary airlines.

The timing of the grounding comes at a critical period, as the holiday season is one of the busiest travel periods.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) estimates it will screen 40 million passengers during the holidays, which run until 2 January.

Some 1,200 tourists were evacuated on Tuesday from the iconic Paris landmark, the Eiffel Tower, after reports of a fire in one of its elevator shafts between the first and second floor.

The fire, which was caused by one of the elevator cables overheating at around 10:30 am, has since been contained, according to Euronews’ sources. Access to the tower has been restricted during the operation.

The tourist attraction and one of the world’s most famous towers is visited by an average of 15,000 to 25,000 visitors daily.

The Eiffel Tower has experienced one major fire in the past. The January 1956 blaze in its TV control room caused significant damage to its top section. The repairs took a year, and then the current radio antenna was added to its pinnacle.

The French capital remains scarred by the devastating blaze that almost destroyed another prominent landmark, the Notre Dame Cathedral, in 2019.

The Gothic architectural masterpiece was closed for five years and was just reopened to the public earlier this month.

The Global South, a term which loosely refers to developing economies, is more satisfied with work life balance than countries in the EU, according to a recent study.

The study, carried out by Amrop, a leading global leadership and executive search consultancy, conducted The Meaning of Work study with 8,000 participants across Germany, France, Poland, the UK, the USA, China, India and Brazil.

The study saw German, French and Polish participants report satisfaction below 50%, whilst India reported a 73.3% satisfaction and the USA 59.9%, despite lower social and labour regulatory standards.

Global Chair of Amrop, Annika Farin, told Euronews that what surprised her the most from the study is Europe’s “non-willingness to step up and have the wish to go into a responsible role, be it in business or be it in politics.” She said she sees it as a wake-up call for European leaders.

“We should take that seriously and do something about it jointly,” Farin adds.

With the development of AI and shifting demographics, such as the Baby Boomer generation retiring and Gen Z entering the work force, societies are going to have to embrace changes all around.

“I think we cannot underestimate what’s coming. If we look at the demographics, we see what’s coming. We’ll have to have more people that we bring into our countries,” Farin says, urging more innovation regarding migration.

“What I liked in the study and was surprised to see, in a positive sense, was that it seems that a country like Germany remains attractive for other geographies and nearby countries,” she says.

According to the study, the USA (33%) is the top global choice when it comes to attractive working conditions, thanks to its strong job market, high salaries and diverse industries. Germany follows with 22%, ahead of Canada and the UK, each with 21% of global worker preferences.

“We should see that as an opportunity. Because that can also go away,” Farin says.

The study also shows that countries and age groups are united in their motivation to work for a good salary and in interesting jobs. Pensions are regarded as a hot topic amongst European countries, and have sparked major protests across France and fuelled political debate in Germany.

“One of the topics we really have to talk about, and I know that’s not always popular, is that people might have to work longer in some countries, in certain countries at least, particularly in European markets.” Farin suggests creating initiatives, such as lower taxation for pensioners that work for longer, and using entrepreneurial role models in the media and society to bridge the gap between older and younger people.

The study also shows that countries in the Global South show a stronger interest in leadership roles.

76% of Indian respondents and 66% of Brazilians aim for leadership or entrepreneurial roles. Comparatively, only 36% in Germany and 37% in France share this ambition.