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Air Canada flights briefly grounded globally over ‘technical issue’

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A ground stop on all Air Canada and Rouge flights worldwide has been lifted about an hour after it was first issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.

According to a statement from Air Canada, the airline experienced a temporary “technical issue” with its communicator system, which it says is used to communicate with aircraft and monitor operational performance.

The stoppage was issued at approximately 11:20 a.m. eastern time, with the FAA citing a request by the airline. It was called off at 12:15 p.m. ET.

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The airline said there had been “limited delays” as a result of the issue but the system is “now returning to normal” with the “precautionary” ground stop being lifted.

At this time, the extent of those delays is not yet clear.

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According to data from Cirium, an airline analytics company, there were a total of 1,047 Air Canada flights booked for Thursday. Some 15 Air Canada flights were cancelled as of 1 p.m. ET Thursday, according to Cirium, but it’s unclear whether any of those cancellations were tied directly to the ground stop.

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