United Airlines paused departures on flights nationwide around midday Tuesday because of a technology issue at the Chicago-based carrier.
United asked the FAA to pause all departures nationwide, the FAA said. Around 12:50 p.m., the agency said United had lifted the ground stop for the U.S. and Canada, and shortly after that United said it had “identified a fix for the technology issue” and flights had resumed.
Earlier, United executives said in a statement they were “experiencing a systemwide technology issue.” They did not elaborate on the exact nature of the problem, but an FAA advisory said the carrier was “unable to contact their dispatch through normal means” and could use alternate means if requested.
During the pause, United was holding all departing flights at the airports, the carrier said in the statement. Flights already in the air were continuing to their destinations.
Around 3 p.m., flight-tracking website FlightAware was reporting 56 delayed United flights at O’Hare International Airport, and no cancellations. Nationwide, 347 United flights were delayed and seven were canceled.
sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com
