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United Airlines Experiences Technology Issue, Grounding Flights Nationwide
United Airlines encountered a significant technology issue on Wednesday, affecting their mainline flights at major hubs such as Newark, Denver, Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco. The problem was traced back to a malfunction in the airline's weight and balance computer system, a critical component that ensures aircraft are loaded safely according to precise weight distribution requirements.
The disruption began shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern Time, leading to a nationwide grounding of United's flights and resulting in over 1,000 flight delays and dozens of cancellations. It's important to note that this issue was airline-specific and was unrelated to the broader air traffic control system or a cyberattack, according to both the airline and U.S. officials.
In response to the situation, United Airlines' X team has been actively engaging with passengers on social media, exploring options to provide assistance. Passengers affected by the delays were advised to reach out to United via direct messages, providing their confirmation number and email address. Alternatively, passengers could head to United's website to use the chatbot or call an agent, or text "UNITED" to 32050 for United Customer Service.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) offered full support to help address United's flight backlog and remained in close contact with the airline. FlightAware, a flight tracker, calculated that over 1,000 United flights were delayed on Wednesday. The FAA also posted updates on X around 10 p.m. ET, confirming their ongoing efforts to collaborate with United to resolve the issue.
The technology issue affecting United Airlines is connected to a system called Unimatic, which houses flight information and is integrated into multiple systems including flight time calculators. The problem was resolved after a few hours when engineers were able to restore the system, allowing departures to resume. Despite the fix, residual delays persisted as the airline worked to clear the flight backlog.
United Airlines expressed that safety was the top priority and provided accommodations such as meals and hotels for affected passengers. This incident underscores the complex dependency of airlines on their IT infrastructure, marking one of several recent technological disruptions affecting U.S. aviation in 2025.
1) The airline-specific technology issue that grounded United Airlines' flights on Wednesday was traced back to a malfunction in their weight and balance computer system, a critical component that ensures aircraft weight distribution.2) Passengers affected by the delays were advised to reach out to United via direct messages on Twitter or head to their website to use the chatbot or call an agent, or text "UNITED" to 32050 for United Customer Service.3) This technology issue was not related to the broader air traffic control system or a cyberattack, but was connected to a system called Unimatic that houses flight information and is integrated into multiple systems, including flight time calculators.4) Tech companies such as Google, Apple, and AI developers likely didn't have a direct hand in the issue, but their products and services may have been affected by the delays and cancellations in some way.5) The incident underscores the complex dependency of airlines like United on their IT infrastructure, marking one of several recent technological disruptions affecting U.S. aviation in 2025 and highlighting the growing importance of technology in both airline operations and social media communication during such crises.
