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.

Share:
More In Business
Protecting Your Small Business From Cyber Attack
Paul Tracey, Founder & CEO of Innovative Technologies, and author of 'Delete The Hacker Playbook' and 'Cyber Storm', joins Cheddar to discuss the most effective ways to protect small businesses from cyber attacks, the labor shortage's effects on cybercrime, and how businesses and employees can stay cyber secure while working from home.
Post-covid payrolls show new labor market norms
A lot has changed since the pandemic began back in march 2020. COVID-19 caused a huge disruption in the U.S. labor force that is just beginning to normalize. As of last month, about 96% of jobs lost in the pandemic have returned. Still, where people work now looks very different from two years ago. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier looks at where the jobs are now and where they aren't.
The Rise of Quantum Computing
Dave Burg, EY Americas Cybersecurity Leader, joins Cheddar News to discuss the rise of quantum computing and how it can compromise existing security measures at play today, and what the timeline looks like for quantum computing to become a reality.
Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill for Crypto Regulation
Michelle Bond, CEO of the Association for Digital Asset Markets, joins Closing Bell, where she breaks down the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, which would not only establish a regulatory structure for digital assets, but hand over crypto oversight to the CFTC instead of the SEC.
Load More