United Airlines' tech outage grounds flights in US, other countries

Houston: More than 800 United Airlines flights were cancelled and hundreds more delayed by late Wednesday following a major technology outage that forced a systemwide ground stop across the United States, severely disrupting both domestic and international travel.

At Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), where United operates a key hub, long lines and frustrated passengers filled terminals. The airline traced the outage to failures in its dispatch and fuelling systems.

"Due to a technology issue, we are holding United mainline flights at their departure airports," United said in a statement. "We expect additional flight delays this evening as we work through this issue." The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the grounding was initiated by United and shared an official statement on social media: "United Airlines requested the FAA to pause its departures nationwide while they addressed a technology issue. The FAA is monitoring the situation closely." Among those affected was Ishya, a young professional from New York scheduled to return to LaGuardia Airport after a brief family visit in Houston.

"This visit home was my little reset and now, it is turning into an unplanned extension," she said, watching the departure board. "Even the staff does not have answers. It is nerve-wracking." Another passenger, Michael Tran, a software engineer travelling to Tokyo via San Francisco, expressed his frustration.

"I had meetings lined up in Tokyo -- now I am stuck here with no idea when I will get out. Even the staff seems overwhelmed," he said.

The outage affected United's global network as well. Flights from Newark and Chicago to Delhi and Mumbai were delayed by several hours, complicating onward connections for passengers from cities including Houston. Routes to Frankfurt, London, Sao Paulo and Panama City also faced cascading delays.

United encouraged customers to monitor flight updates on its app or website and to consider rebooking or applying for travel waivers.

"We apologise for the disruption and thank customers for their patience," the airline said in a social media post.

While the FAA lifted ground stops at hubs like Houston by late Wednesday evening, aviation analysts warned that residual delays could persist into Thursday, especially impacting long-haul and international flights requiring tight connections.

Passengers travelling internationally were advised to confirm onward flights even if US departures had resumed. PTI SHK RC