American Airlines announced on Wednesday that it delayed about 35 flights from its today schedule from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport due to an error at the software that controls the baggage sorting conveyor belt.

The airport personnel were left with no alternative but to sort the luggage by hand. However, many bags were not being put on flights before departure, AMR Corp., AA’s owner, said in a statement. Delays range from an hour to an hour and a half. The airline had 69 flights scheduled to depart from JFK Wednesday.

The company said that they have been announcing the issue to passengers and allowing them to choose whether they go on the flight or not.

"Once we have the issue resolved, we'll get the bags that are left behind on their way to the customer's destination and delivered to them," AMR said in the statement. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the region's airports, said that they have not responsibility over the luggage.

Only 10% to 20% of the checked luggage is getting on board, spokesman Tim Wagner. The conveyor belt at its Terminal 8 is still moving and agents can accept bags from passengers, but the program that reads the bags tags and sends them to the right gates has failed.

American Eagle, a regional airline unit of American Airlines' corporate parent AMR Corp., also had to delay five flights of its 31 scheduled for the day.