United Airlines temporarily grounded all of its flights across the United States on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, due to a “technology issue” that caused widespread delays and cancellations, affecting more than 1,000 flights. The issue has since been resolved, the airline confirmed.
The disruption began at approximately 6:12 p.m. ET and was linked to Unimatic, the airline’s weight and balance computer system critical to flight operations. United clarified that the outage was not related to recent cybersecurity threats affecting the aviation sector.
“The underlying technology issue has been resolved and while we expect residual delays, our team is working to restore our normal operations,” a United Airlines spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.
According to flight tracking service FlightAware, over 1,000 flights were delayed, with dozens of cancellations continuing into Thursday morning. Major United hubs including Chicago, Denver, Newark, Houston, and San Francisco were significantly impacted.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) acknowledged the incident, stating, “We’re aware United experienced a technology issue disrupting their operations. Some delays may continue as they work through the recovery process.” The FAA also confirmed it is assisting United in managing the backlog.
Passengers reported chaotic scenes at several airports. Angela Jeffers, who was on a delayed flight from Nashville to Denver, told CNN that the pilot informed them the flight couldn’t take off due to missing operational data. Jeffers and others were offered accommodation and rebooking options.
Meanwhile, her sister Jessica Jeffers experienced a similar delay in Denver, waiting on the tarmac for over two hours in a poorly air-conditioned aircraft. “It’s been pretty rough over here,” she said.
Other passengers like Johan Kotze, who was traveling to Mauritius from New Orleans, voiced frustration over missed connections and the potential need to rebook multiple travel arrangements.
While operations are gradually resuming, United Airlines has warned of lingering delays as they work to return to normal scheduling.
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