United Airlines Grounds Flights Nationwide Over Technology Issue
By Ayesha Ali and Sam Sweeney
United said it was due to a weight and balance computer system issue.
A tech outage led United Airlines to ground flights nationwide Wednesday night, and even with the issue now resolved, over 1,000 flights have been delayed and dozens canceled.
The outage stemmed from an issue with the airline’s weight and balance computer system, United said.
“Due to a technology issue, we are holding United mainline flights at their departure airports,” the airline said in a statement. “We expect additional flight delays this evening as we work through this issue. Safety is our top priority, and we’ll work with our customers to get them to their destinations.”
The airline said the outage began shortly after 6 p.m. ET and was resolved after a few hours.
Overall, more than 1,000 flights have been delayed and more than 40 canceled, according to FlightAware. United said it’s covering meals and hotels for impacted customers.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement it was aware the airline “experienced a technology issue disrupting their operations.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the issue was specific to United’s operations “and is unrelated to the broader air traffic control system.”
The ground stop did not affect United Express flights, and any flight that was already in the air will continue to its destination, according to the airline.
Multiple FAA notices stated that the airline requested ground stops at major hubs, including Newark, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver and Houston.
