A scheduling glitch at American Airlines involving the processing of time-off requests is threatening some 15,000 flights in the busy holiday season, the Reuters news wire reported Wednesday.

The error in the airline’s software essentially resulted in too many pilots being granted their vacation requests, leaving a shortage of pilots available to man the company’s flights scheduled between Dec. 17 and 31.

According to Bloomberg News, American Airlines said the software glitch has been fixed and should not present problems moving forward.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based commercial carrier is hoping to fix the snafu by coaxing enough pilots into giving up vacation in exchange for bonus pay for working during the holiday crunch.

But the Allied Pilots Association has complained that would violate the existing labor agreement between American and its unionized pilots, Reuters reported.

“Because management unilaterally created their solution in violation of the contract, neither APA nor the contract can guarantee the promised payment of the premium being offered,” the APA said in a statement Tuesday on its website. “…. Management’s actions likewise jeopardize any collaborative effort to ensure our passengers have a pilot crew to take them to their important holiday events.”

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