United Airlines halts all US flights due to tech failure

United Airlines Experiences Technology Outage, Causes Flight Delays

United Airlines faced a significant disruption on August 6 when it decided to ground its flights at U.S. airports due to a technology issue. The airline issued a statement indicating that all mainline flights were being held at their departure points, leading to widespread delays and cancellations.

The problem stemmed from an outage in the airline’s weight calculation system, according to a source familiar with the situation. This critical system is responsible for determining the correct weight and balance of each aircraft before takeoff, which is essential for safe and efficient flight operations.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that a ground stop had been implemented for United Airlines flights at several major U.S. airports. These included key hubs such as Newark, Denver, Houston, and Chicago. A ground stop means that no flights can depart until the issue is resolved, further compounding the challenges for passengers and airport operations.

By 9:19 p.m. Eastern Time, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 reported that the issue affecting United Airlines had been resolved, and mainline flights were once again departing. However, the impact of the outage was still evident throughout the evening.

According to flight tracking data from FlightAware, as of 9:25 p.m. Eastern Time, 870 flights—equivalent to 28% of United’s total flights—had been delayed on August 6. This highlights the scale of the disruption and the difficulty in restoring normal operations quickly.

This incident marks another challenge for United Airlines, coming just weeks after a similar event involving Alaska Airlines. In late July, Alaska Airlines grounded all of its flights for approximately three hours due to an IT outage. This was the second such incident for the airline within a year, following a similar disruption in April 2024.

In April, Alaska Airlines experienced a system failure that affected the weight and balance calculations for its planes, leading to a complete grounding of its fleet. This recurring issue underscores the growing concerns about the reliability of airline IT systems and the potential risks they pose to flight operations and passenger safety.

Experts suggest that airlines must invest more in robust and redundant systems to prevent such outages from occurring. With increasing reliance on digital infrastructure, even minor technical glitches can have far-reaching consequences.

As the aviation industry continues to navigate these challenges, both airlines and regulators are under pressure to ensure that such incidents become rare rather than routine. The recent events serve as a reminder of the importance of maintaining strong technological safeguards in an environment where even small disruptions can lead to large-scale problems.