American Airlines looks for new scheduling director after glitch leaves thousands of flights without pilots

American Airlines is looking for a new Director of Crew Scheduling after an incident left thousands of flights without pilots during the upcoming "critical holiday period."

RELATED: Scheduling mix-up could affect American flights over holidays

On Wednesday, the Union representing American Airlines said the airline had informed them of a problem with the pilot vacation system that caused the scheduling snafu.

According to a post on the Union's website, "On Friday, management disclosed a failure within the pilot schedule bidding system. As a result, thousands of flights currently do not have pilots assigned to fly them during the upcoming critical holiday period.

American Airlines has been responding to tweets from many people concerned with their upcoming flights, and is trying to assure fliers they "expect to avoid any cancellations."