United Airlines plane takes off at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on January 18, 2024. Photo by Carolina Brehman/EPA-EFE/CAROLINE BREHMAN
Aug. 6 (UPI) — United Airlines on Wednesday night briefly suspended flight departures nationwide because of a technology issue and expected further flight delays throughout the night.
Shortly after 7 p.m. CDT, the airline reported an outage and one hour later the system was coming back up, CBS News reported.
“Due to a technology issue, we are holding United mainline flights at their departure airports,” United said in a statement obtained by ABC News. “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.”
United later posted on Instagram: “We are working with customers to get them to their destinations after a technology disruption on Wednesday evening. The underlying technology issue has been resolved, and, while we expect residual delays, our team is working to restore our normal operations.”
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The airline said to go to united.com or its United app for the latest flight information.
The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily issued a ground stop for United flights at United hubs: Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Denver International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Houston’s George Bush International Airport and San Francisco International Airport.
By 10:30 p.m. EDT, the stops were only in Denver and Newark until 11 p.m. EDT.
Airports urged travelers to check with the airline on status. Passengers on connecting flights with other airlines could be affected.
United Express Flights and those already in the air were not affected, the airline told ABC.
United, which is based in Chicago, has approximately 4,600 flights per day at 354 destinations in 38 countries.
Through 10:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, 1,308 flights have been delayed and 53 have been canceled, according to FlightAware.
At O’Hare, 16 flights — 11 departures and seven arrivals — have been canceled. The airport was reporting delays ofg hours, as of 9:30 p.m. CDT.
A line of United planes at O’Hare were stopped at the tarmac waiting for available gates, according to video taken by a passenger to CBS News.
