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United Airlines resumes flights after technical issues | United Airlines resumes flights after technical issues |
(about 1 hour later) | |
US carrier United Airlines grounded all of its flights for about two hours on Wednesday due to a technical issue. | US carrier United Airlines grounded all of its flights for about two hours on Wednesday due to a technical issue. |
United said it had suffered a "network connectivity" problem - the same issue that grounded its flights on 2 June. | United said it had suffered a "network connectivity" problem - the same issue that grounded its flights on 2 June. |
The US aviation authority (FAA) said the airline resolved the issues at about 10:00 ET (14:00 GMT). | |
The company has suffered technical issues in the past, including one that meant first-class seats were sold in error for just $100 (£65) in February. | The company has suffered technical issues in the past, including one that meant first-class seats were sold in error for just $100 (£65) in February. |
"We experienced a network connectivity issue this morning. We are working to resolve this and apologise to our customers for any inconvenience," United said in a statement. | "We experienced a network connectivity issue this morning. We are working to resolve this and apologise to our customers for any inconvenience," United said in a statement. |
The problem impacted as many as 3,500 flights, the airline told the CNBC TV news network. | The problem impacted as many as 3,500 flights, the airline told the CNBC TV news network. |
United customers complained of delays and a lack of information on Twitter on Wednesday morning. | United customers complained of delays and a lack of information on Twitter on Wednesday morning. |
One passenger, Jeralyn Novak, tweeted: "Never flying @united ever again! The whole computer system is down and stuck in Boise." | One passenger, Jeralyn Novak, tweeted: "Never flying @united ever again! The whole computer system is down and stuck in Boise." |
Betsy Fischer Martin, a journalist travelling with United, tweeted: "Our @united airlines pilot on their global outage: "It's like someone pulled the plug on our computers - It's embarrassing, I apologise."" | |
United said it was "recovering" and "restoring flight ops" after the FAA order was lifted, but long queues were reported at airports across the US. | |
It was the latest in a series of technical problems that the US carrier has had in recent months. | |
Last month, United was again forced to ground its planes across the US due to an unspecified computer problem. | |
And in February, the company cancelled thousands of bookings after a computer glitch allowed transatlantic flights to be bought for very low prices. | |
United said it would not honour the fares as the error was caused by a "third party software provider" - provoking criticism from customers. | |
It is not the only airline to have suffered with technical issues though. | |
In April, rival US carrier American Airlines also had to ground its planes after a glitch caused iPad software - used by its pilots to view flight plans - to stop working. |