United Airlines Mainline Flights Grounded by Tech Outage

On August 6, United Airlines experienced a major technology system outage, prompting the temporary nationwide grounding of its mainline flights at the airline's request and resulting in significant delays at major hubs such as Newark, Chicago, Denver, Houston, and San Francisco, as well as at additional airports like Phoenix. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for United flights, while flights already airborne were allowed to continue to their destinations. United's regional flights were not impacted by the outage. Passengers faced hours-long disruptions, with many stranded on tarmacs or forced to deplane, and United apologized while working to resolve the issue and assist affected customers. According to FlightAware, between 16% and 23% of United flights were delayed as of the evening. The cause and duration of the outage were not immediately clear, but United emphasized that safety was its top priority.