Late Wednesday evening, United Airlines resumed flight operations following a significant technical glitch that led to a full halt of departures for several hours.
“The root cause of the tech issue has been fixed, and although we anticipate some lingering delays, our teams are actively working to return to our regular schedule,” United stated. They also mentioned efforts to assist customers in reaching their intended destinations.
The problem centered around a vital system named Unimatic, which is responsible for storing essential flight information and transmitting it to other systems. This is crucial for monitoring flight durations and computing the necessary weight and balance data required before takeoff. There have been ongoing efforts to upgrade this outdated technology, as per sources familiar with the situation.
While the airline has not disclosed the specific reasons for the outage, which emerged shortly after 6 PM ET, they clarified that it was not linked to cybersecurity issues.
As a result of the outage, United Airlines canceled over 60 mainline flights and faced more than 1,000 delays, accounting for approximately 35% of its scheduled flights based on data from FlightAware.
United Airlines is viewing the situation as an internal operational matter. Therefore, they have opted to cover expenses for customers requiring accommodations, such as hotels.
This incident highlights a recurring challenge in the airline industry regarding tech failures that can result in flight cancellations or disruptions. Airlines are frequently at risk from both external technological failures and their own aging systems.
Notably, last month, Alaska Airlines faced a similar incident, stopping departures due to an unexpected hardware failure in a data center. Earlier in 2023, an issue within an FAA alert system prompted the first nationwide ground stop since the tragic 9/11 events.
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