United Airlines has temporarily suspended all of its mainline flights due to a technical problem affecting its systems, impacting thousands of passengers across the US. The issue was resolved within an hour, although the airline cautioned that flight delays would follow.

Passengers expressed their frustrations on social media as operations halted at airports in Chicago, Denver, Newark, Houston, and San Francisco.

“The underlying technology issue has been addressed, and while we anticipate some residual delays, our team is actively working to restore normal operations,” a spokesperson for United Airlines informed CNN.

OVER 800 FLIGHTS DELAYED
The airline clarified that the situation was not a result of a cyberattack, as reported by ABC News. While the specific issue was not disclosed, a source informed Reuters that the airline experienced an outage in its weight calculation system.

To date, 827 flights have been delayed, and 23 have been cancelled.

Following the major US carrier’s announcement of the system issue, the Federal Aviation Authority implemented ground stops at several key airports.

However, the problem did not impact any United Express flights or any flights that were already in the air.

The delays prompted stranded passengers to take to social media to criticize the airline.

“Sitting on the tarmac at Denver airport due to computer issues in Chicago. How do large airlines not have redundant backup systems?” one passenger tweeted.

Another frustrated passenger shared, “All United Airlines planes are grounded. I’m sitting on the plane, and they have given us the option to disembark with no estimated time of arrival.”

US AVIATION SECTOR WOES
This incident is the latest in a series of challenges facing America’s aviation industry.

Last month, Alaska Airlines encountered a technical issue that forced it to ground its flights for several hours. In Newark, air traffic control systems have failed multiple times this year.

In January, a midair collision in Washington involving a passenger plane and a military helicopter resulted in 67 fatalities, marking the deadliest plane crash in the US in over two decades.