United Airlines Grounds Flights Due to Technology Glitch

United Airlines temporarily suspended its mainline flights at various U.S. airports on Wednesday because of a technical problem, leading to numerous delays across the airline’s network.

The airline confirmed that a system responsible for calculating aircraft weight experienced an outage, which prompted the flight holds. A source briefed on the matter told Reuters that the issue has now been resolved and flights are gradually resuming operations.

According to flight tracking services, by late evening, approximately 28% of United’s flights—around 870 flights—were delayed. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had initially issued a ground stop at key hubs including Newark, Denver, Houston, and Chicago, to restrict departures during the disruption.

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This incident follows a recent pattern of IT-related disruptions affecting airlines. Just weeks earlier, Alaska Airlines grounded all flights for about three hours due to a similar system outage for the second time in just over a year. In April 2024, Alaska also halted operations fleet-wide due to issues with their weight and balance calculation systems.

Authorities and airline officials continue to work through the technical issues, but the situation underscores ongoing challenges with airline IT and logistics systems.

This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as new information becomes available.