This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

A large group of students, teachers and chaperones were stranded at LAX on Monday after their flight was delayed for several hours. 

The students, all fifth graders from Paradise Canyon Elementary School in La Cañada, were supposed to leave L.A. for Philadelphia early Monday morning, but according to the school’s principal, they were told by American Airlines that the flight would be delayed until at least 5 p.m. 

From Philadelphia, the students are set to travel approximately an hour to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to visit the encampment site of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War as part of a weeklong field trip. 

However, the group ran into a roadblock before their plane took off.

“Besides us getting in at 1 a.m., this is going to impact the entire trip because [the kids] will be tired the next day,” Paradise Elementary principal Carrie Hetzel told KTLA from the airport. “We plan these trips very carefully, and because of jet lag and the fact that we had to leave so early, [the delay] is impactful.” 

Despite this, Hetzel says the group is doing their best to remain positive throughout the ordeal and make their much-anticipated trip to the East Coast count. 

“These kids have been looking forward to this trip for several years, so it’s a bummer,” Hetzel said. “But we are going to make the best of it, of course, and we are staying positive, keeping spirits up and trying to make everybody happy.” 

In a statement to KTLA, American Airlines said that the flight was originally supposed to depart at 8:05 a.m., but due to an operational aircraft swap, it had to be delayed. 

“Our teams are working to get our customers to their final destinations as quickly as possible,” the American Airlines statement read in part. “We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans and apologize for the inconvenience.” 

The group’s new plane is scheduled to arrive at LAX at 3:24 p.m. Monday and depart for Philadelphia at 5 p.m., American Airlines added. 

Customers affected by the delay are being provided with meal vouchers and, if possible, being rebooked on alternate routes to their final destinations. 

The group’s flight being delayed comes one day after significant traffic congestion was seen at LAX due to construction.