Glitch Grounded All US United Flights

'Network connectivity' problem is the second grounding in 2 months
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 8, 2015 8:36 AM CDT
Updated Jul 8, 2015 10:11 AM CDT
Glitch Grounds All US United Flights
In this May 1, 2015, photo, United Airlines jets are parked at Newark Liberty International Airport as the sun rises.   (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

All United Continental flights in the US were grounded today due to computer problems. Just shy of two hours after the problems began, the Federal Aviation Administration lifted the ground stop order. United said it was recovering from a "network connectivity issue" and restoring regular flight operations. The airline said that it would have a waiver available on its website for customers that are able to change their flight plans. It is the second time in two months that the carrier has been hit by major technical issues.

The Chicago company had halted all takeoffs in the US on June 2 due to what the airline described as computer automation issues. The FAA used the same language in its notice about the outage today. "We don't know everything behind this morning's issues yet, but today's incident underscores the sense that something is very wrong at United," said Gary Leff, co-founder of frequent-flier website MilePoint. (More United Airlines stories.)

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