United nationwide takeoff half caused by software update

United flight crew members were unable to contact the airline’s dispatcher through normal means, federal officials said.

“The software update caused a general slowdown in United’s technical systems,” United said in a statement. The airline said it was not a cybersecurity issue.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates U.S. airspace, said United had asked it to stop flying nationwide. The FAA said the problem was limited to United and its subsidiaries.

United said the ground stop lasted more than an hour and did not affect aircraft already in the air.

On the East Coast, United had canceled just seven flights as of late Tuesday afternoon, well below the busy Labor Day weekend average of about 16 flights a day, according to tracking service FlightAware.

However, more than 350 United flights were delayed – 13 percent of the airline’s schedule, far more than rivals American, Delta and Southwest – on a day when many vacationers are expected to fly back to the airport. Home.

southwest airlines has a similar outage In April, all departing flights were grounded for about an hour, delaying more than 2,000 flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) suspended all U.S. flight departures in January when system used to warn pilots Unqualified for safety hazards.Agency blame the contractor It said the file was accidentally deleted while syncing the alarm system and its backup.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has criticized airlines for flight issues and other problems over the past year, posted Tuesday that the FAA “is receiving more information about the cause and extent of the problem, DOT will ensure that (United Airlines) fulfills its obligations to affected passengers.”

The FAA is part of the Buttigieg Department of Transportation.

Shares of Chicago-based United Airlines Holdings Inc. fell on news of the grounding, closing down 2.5%.