Thanks to an “automation” glitch early on Wednesday morning, United Airlines was forced to ground every single one of its flights. Worldwide. For a whole hour.
The massive error, which was lifted around 9:50 a.m., sparked long lines and confusion at airports. Though flights have finally begun to slowly take off, the system-wide grounding will undoubtedly throw a wrench into travelers’ plans today.
Video: @MarkKonoSky5 is over LAX where hundreds of passengers are delayed http://t.co/tR6omHsw1K pic.twitter.com/DFjtKDzWmc
— KTLA (@KTLA) July 8, 2015
That’s alot of planes grounded… and this is just 1 airport. It’s happened at every airport in US. #UnitedAirlines pic.twitter.com/Mp8NmKmkl3
— Taylor Reed (@rollbluetide) July 8, 2015
.@united agents now writing baggage tickets by hand. Supervisor tells me “unclear” when system will be back up. pic.twitter.com/mRxfCsiz4c
— Jeff Rossen (@jeffrossen) July 8, 2015
#BREAKING: Ground stop CANCELLED for #UnitedAirlines. Things returning to normal at #LAX http://t.co/2ZmFHAhdba pic.twitter.com/W451Y6dHyj
— Katie Chrystler (@kchrystler) July 8, 2015
“We experienced a network connectivity issue this morning,” United said in a statement. “We are working to resolve this and apologize to our customers for any inconvenience.”
The system-wide notice, which follows June’s worldwide grounding, continues United’s reputation as one of the world’s worst airlines. So, business as usual!