A United Airlines jetliner taxis to a runway for take off from Denver International Airport, Dec. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
By David Koenig
United Airlines said Tuesday it repaired a technology glitch that had forced it to halt departures nationwide, briefly crippling one of the nation's biggest carriers on a busy travel day.
Federal officials said United crews had been unable to contact airline dispatchers through normal means.
“United asked the FAA to pause the airline’s departures nationwide,” the Federal Aviation Administration said on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
The FAA said the issue was limited to United and its subsidiaries. It was less than an hour from the time that the FAA issued a bulletin about United's ground stop until the agency said that flights were resuming — shortly before 2 p.m. Eastern time.
“We have identified a fix for the technology issue and flights have resumed,” United said in a statement. “We’re working with impacted customers to help them reach their destinations as soon as possible.”
United said earlier that it was “experiencing a systemwide technology issue" and was holding up all departing planes. Flights that were already in the air when the technology problem occurred continued to their destinations, the airline said.
By midafternoon Tuesday on the East Coast, United had canceled only seven flights, well below its average of about 16 per day over the busy Labor Day weekend, according to figures from tracking service FlightAware.
However, more than 300 United flights were delayed — 12% of the carrier's schedule, far more than rivals American, Delta and Southwest — on a day that many holiday vacationers were expected to fly home.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has criticized airlines for flight problems and other issues over the past year, posted that the FAA was “receiving more information about the cause and scope of the issue, and DOT will make sure UA meets its obligations to affected passengers.”
The FAA is part of the Department of Transportation.
Shares of Chicago-based United Airlines Holdings Inc. fell on news of the ground stop and were down almost 3% in afternoon trading.
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
