On Wednesday, August 6, 2025, United Airlines experienced a significant disruption due to a technology issue, grounding all mainline flights at departure airports across the U.S. The problem began around 6:12 p.m. ET and was resolved within a few hours, but not before causing over 700 flight delays and affecting major hubs like Chicago, Denver, Houston, San Francisco, and Newark.
Details of the Disruption
The technology issue involved United’s Unimatic system, which handles critical flight information, including weight and balance calculations. This system feeds data to other essential systems, and its outage led to a ground stop for mainline flights, while flights already airborne continued to their destinations. Regional flights were not directly impacted but faced delays due to traffic congestion. By 9:45 p.m. ET, flight tracking data from FlightAware showed 31% of United’s flights delayed and 1% canceled.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) acknowledged the disruption and worked with United to manage the flight backlog, helping address the recovery process. United Airlines emphasized that the outage was not related to cybersecurity concerns and prioritized safety, offering support like meals, hotels, and rebooking for affected passengers.
Passenger Experiences
Passengers reported significant inconveniences, with some stuck on planes for hours without clear updates. For example, Angela Jeffers, whose flight from Nashville to Denver was delayed by two hours, recalled the pilot mentioning a system outage. Her sister, Jessica Jeffers, faced similar delays at Denver airport, describing conditions as “pretty rough” with low air conditioning. United offered solutions like hotel stays and flights for the next day to mitigate the impact. Context and Implications
This incident is part of a broader pattern in the aviation industry, with recent similar disruptions, such as Alaska Airlines grounding all flights a few weeks ago due to an IT outage. Research suggests that such events underscore the critical dependence on technology in modern aviation, with past incidents, like a 2012 United Airlines issue with incorrect weight estimates, highlighting ongoing challenges. United is reviewing the incident to prevent future occurrences, and operations were reported to be returning to normal by Thursday morning, August 7, 2025, with minimal residual delays expected.
Supporting Information
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