United Airlines announced on Tuesday that it has resumed its U.S. flights after temporarily grounding all planes at their points of departure because of a “systemwide technology issue.”
The airline stated on X, formerly known as Twitter, that they have “identified a fix for the technology issue and flights have resumed.”
Earlier, United clarified that planes already in the air would continue to their respective destinations as planned, although it did not provide additional information about the cause of the technical malfunction.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed in a statement to CBS News that United had requested a nationwide halt on its departures. The FAA deferred further inquiries to United Airlines.
As of midafternoon Tuesday, United had canceled just seven flights, a number significantly lower than their average of about 16 cancellations per day over the Labor Day weekend, as per data from FlightAware. However, over 300 United flights experienced delays, constituting 12% of the airline’s daily operations and surpassing delays reported by competitors like American, Delta, and Southwest Airlines.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has been critical of airlines for various issues over the last year, commented that the FAA is in the process of gathering more details about the issue. He assured that the Department of Transportation (DOT) will ensure United meets its obligations to passengers affected by the disruptions.
