Passengers flying with United Airlines across the United States experienced significant delays on Wednesday evening as the airline imposed a temporary halt on flights due to a "technology issue." The disruption primarily affected mainline flights at major airports, including Chicago, Denver, Houston, San Francisco, and New Jersey.
United Airlines announced around 10:00 PM EDT that the issue had been resolved, although they acknowledged that residual delays would continue and emphasized that their team was working diligently to restore normal flight operations. By 9:00 PM EDT, over 700 United flights had been delayed, according to data from flight tracking service FlightAware. Flights already in the air at the time of the ground stop were allowed to continue to their destinations without issue. However, regional flights were not directly impacted, although the airline cautioned that they might face delays due to congestion caused by the ground stops.
One passenger, Jessica Jeffers, shared her experience with CNN, stating that she had been stuck for two hours on a plane in Denver waiting to fly to Newark, New Jersey. "It's been pretty rough over here," she remarked. Other travelers expressed their frustrations on social media, indicating they had also been stranded on tarmacs for extended periods awaiting updates.
CBS News, the BBC's US partner network, reported that United Airlines classified the incident as a preventable delay, implying that the airline would reimburse certain expenses incurred by affected passengers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated he had received a briefing from United regarding the problem and clarified that the technical issue was "unrelated to the broader air traffic control system" in the United States.
