Chaos at airports as nationwide ground stop issued for United Airlines due to ‘technology issue’
The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily issued a ground stop for United Airlines flights at major airports across the United States, causing chaos for travelers.
The precaution was taken by the FAA at airports in Denver, Newark, Houston, and San Francisco.
United Airlines told Daily Mail ‘a technology issue’ was the reason for the stoppage.
‘Due to a technology issue, we are holding United mainline flights at their departure airports,’ United said in a statement.
‘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.’
The airline explained to ABC News that the technology issue was not a cyber attack, as it cited a problem with the ‘weight and balance computer system.’
This ground stop did not appear to affect planes that are already in the air, ABC’s Sam Sweeney reported. Those planes continued to their destinations as planned.
Systems started to come back online at around 9.30pm EST and the ground stop was lifted, but delays are now expected throughout the night.
United Airlines planes that have landed in airports at Chicago, Denver, Newark, Houston, and San Francisco are all affected by the ground stop issued by the Federal Aviation Administration
According to data from FlightAware, 824 United Airlines flights were delayed and 26 were canceled.
Many onboard those stuck aircrafts took to social media in frustration.
Biochemist Robert Malone was stranded on an affected plane.
‘I am on the tarmac for a United flight that has been grounded,’ Malone wrote on X.
‘The flight attendant says she is hearing that the whole United system for all planes in the USA is down right now. Let’s hope it’s fixed quickly or it is gonna be a long night for everybody.’
A man named James Michaels wrote posted at 7:57pm ET that his plane was supposed to take off five hours ago from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
‘No other United Airlines planes are leaving the tarmac. This is crazy,’ he said.
Another person posted that his first experience with United was ‘a bust.’
As of that person’s 7:33pm ET post, he said he was still on the tarmac at Washington Dulles International Airport.
United last had to issue a nationwide ground stop for its mainline flights on July 24, when the fire alarm sounded at its Chicago operations center.
‘A fire alarm sounded at our operations center, which caused employees to move to our nearby backup facility and resulted in a brief nationwide ground stop of United aircraft,’ the airline said in a statement.
‘Employees have returned to our primary operations center, and the ground stop has been lifted,’ the company added.
