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.
Chen Arad, Chief Operating Officer for Solidus Labs, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why Wormhole was particularly vulnerable to a $320+ million crypto hack and discusses what new investors need to do in order to protect their assets.
E-commerce platform for construction and building materials RenoRun has raised $142 million in a Series B round, which the company says is the fourth largest Series B round in Canadian history. RenoRun’s platform offers same-day delivery of construction materials to job sites in Canada and the United States. The company aims to revolutionize the construction industry by maximizing productivity and efficiency. RenoRun co-founder and CEO Eamonn O’Rourke joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Facebook parent company Meta reported weaker-than-expected fourth quarter earnings, and also issued disappointing guidance for Q1 2022. The tech giant is also under pressure due to Apple's iOS privacy change, as well as continued multi-billion dollar losses for its metaverse focused business unit. Angelo Zino, Tech Analyst at CFRA Research, joins Closing Bell to discuss the earnings results, how Apple's iOS privacy change will impact revenue, whether the metaverse is an underrated investment opportunity, and more.
Rental prices are rising across the country, causing millions to relocate. Average rents rose 14 percent last year, and Americans expect rents will continue to rise by about 10 percent just this year. Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
The video game industry has seen monumental growth the past few years - with an increasing amount of companies jumping head first into the space. In January alone, Microsoft announced its plan to acquire Activision Blizzard, game publisher Take-Two agreed to buy Zynga, and most recently, Sony announced it has agreed to buy game developer Bungie for $3.6 billion. Tobias Batton, CEO and founder of Ex Populus, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss the surge in M&A activity in the gaming space.
Facebook parent Meta reported disappointing results in its first quarterly earnings report since rebranding to focus on the metaverse. The tech giant delivered mixed results with quarterly profit falling well below Wall Street expectations. Shares plunged more than 20 percent in after hours trading as a result. Martin Garner, COO of CCS Insight, joined Cheddar Movers to break down the company's results.
Karyn Cavanaugh, Chief Investment Officer at Carolinas Wealth Management, breaks down which industries investors should watch this earnings season and highlights which sectors have upside potential.
Super Group, the company behind leading global online sports betting and gaming businesses Betway and Spin, has landed on Wall Street. The company went public via SPAC with Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp., and now lists on the NYSE under the ticker symbol 'SGHC.' This debut comes as the U.S. sports betting market continues to heat up with more and more states legalizing the practice. Eric Grubman, chairman of Super Group, joined Cheddar to discuss.
Miami wants to be the crypto capital of the world. Mayor Francis Suarez has gone all in on the blockchain, even accepting one of his first paychecks in Bitcoin, hosting one of the world's largest digital cryptocurrency conferences, and marketing Miami as a great place for tech experts to work. Maja Vujinovic, managing director of OGroupLLC, joined Cheddar's Fast Forward to discuss Miami's enthusiasm toward crypto, some of the potential risks that entails, and where the city might be heading when it comes to the crypto takeover.
Like so many other cities, Miami experienced a tourism boom over the summer after vaccines were distributed. But, the Omicron variant has thrown the travel industry for a loop. David Whitaker, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, joined Cheddar to discuss the city as a tourist destination, and how it has handled headwinds from the pandemic.
