United Airlines faced substantial challenges as a technology issue prompted a ground halt on its mainline flights at key airports in the U.S., resulting in considerable delays. The issue affected airports in cities like Chicago, Denver, Houston, San Francisco, and New Jersey, leading to confusion and frustration among passengers.
Around 22:00 EDT on Wednesday, the airline announced that the issue had been resolved; however, disruption continued as they worked to restore services. In a statement, United mentioned, "The underlying technology issue has been resolved, and, while we expect residual delays, our team is working to restore our normal operations."
As of 21:00 EDT, more than 700 flights were reported delayed according to flight tracking service FlightAware. Flights already airborne managed to reach their destinations without incident. However, regional flights could experience further delays due to congestion from the halted mainline services.
Passenger experiences varied, with some like Jessica Jeffers recounting being stuck on a plane in Denver for two hours awaiting a flight to Newark, New Jersey. Expressing her frustration, she shared, "It's been pretty rough over here." Other passengers took to social media to voice complaints of being stuck on tarmacs for hours without updates.
According to CBS News, the incident is considered a preventable delay, and United Airlines has announced that it would cover certain expenses incurred by affected passengers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed he was briefed on the situation, clarifying that it was “unrelated to the broader air traffic control system” in the country, indicating that the issue was internal to the airline.
