United Airlines shares positive update for mid-air travelers amid massive system outage, ground stop

United Airlines has has good news for mid-air travelers after it issued a nationwide ground stop and began holding all departures due to a technology issue.

Published on: Aug 7, 2025, 06:40:31 IST

By Sumanti Sen

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United Airlines has good news for mid-air travelers after it issued a nationwide ground stop and began holding all departures due to a technology issue. It has now been revealed that this does not affect United Express (regional) flights, and any flight that is in the air already will continue to its destination.

United Airlines shares positive update for mid-air travelers amid massive system outage, ground stop (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (AFP)

United Airlines grounds flights

United Airlines announced that it was grounding its flights at US airports on Wednesday, August 6, due to a "technology issue," according to a statement from the company. It also warned of additional flight delays in the evening.

“Due to a technology issue, we are holding United mainline flights at their departure airports,” the airline said.

An insider familiar with the situation told Reuters that United suffered an outage of its weight calculation system. As of 9:15 pm EST, flight tracking data from FlightAware showed that on Wednesday, 824, or 27%, of United flights had been delayed.

"We expect additional flight delays this evening as we work through this issue," United's statement said. "Safety is our top priority, and we’ll work with our customers to get them to their destinations."

Latest update

Meanwhile, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said on social media at 9:19 p.m. ET (0119 GMT on Thursday, August), “The issue affecting United Airlines flights has been resolved and mainline flights are departing once again.”

The ground stops had been issued at major United hub airports including Newark, Denver, Houston, and Chicago. This outage came just a few weeks after Alaska Airlines grounded all of its flights for about three hours after an IT outage for the second time in just more than a year. Alaska had grounded its entire fleet in April last year because of a problem with the system that calculates the weight and balance of its planes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sumanti Sen
Sumanti Sen covers everything that’s happening in the US, from politics to entertainment, but her expertise lies in covering crime news. She has comprehensively chronicled the Idaho student murders, the Laken Riley and Iryna Zarutska cases, and the killing of Charlie Kirk, among other incidents. Over the years, she has interviewed several victims/families of victims of crimes seeking justice. She digs up stories that might otherwise remain unheard, and does her bit to ensure that victims and survivors’ voices are heard. Sumanti’s many years of experience also include interviews with Hamas attack survivors and mental health experts, among others. Her coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and interviews with survivors of the tragedy, coupled with her other works including the Titan submersible coverage, earned her the Digi Journo of the Quarter award during her first year at Hindustan Times. Sumanti actively tracks missing person cases in the United States, and peruses Reddit and other social media platforms to bring to light cases that frequently elude public attention. She has extensively covered the disappearances of Nancy Guthrie, Thomas Medlin, Beau Mann, and Sudiksha Konanki, among others. When not at work, you will either find her with her novels, or with her beloved rescue pooches.Read More

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