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Computer problems causing widespread United flight delays

In this July 8, 2015, file photo, a United Airlines plane, front, is pushed back from a gate at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. (David J. Phillip / AP)
By Robert Channick Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO – United Airlines was experiencing delays at airports across the country Wednesday because of a systemwide computer problem affecting flight plans.

“The system that creates these flight plans for our crews and employees is experiencing a delay,” United Airlines spokeswoman Erin Benson said.

Benson said the problem arose early Wednesday morning, and she gave no timetable for resolution. She said there are a “small number of delays,” but the airline has not canceled any flights.

At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the totals were continuing to climb, with 80 United flights listed as delayed as of midday, according to the live flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Similar delays were being reported at airports across the country, with 87 United flights delayed at Newark Liberty International; 75 at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental; and 37 at Washington’s Dulles International, among others.

“We are working as quickly as we can to resolve it,” Benson said.

John Meola, 49, an information technology administrator from Jersey City, N.J., told the Chicago Tribune he was stuck at the gate on United Flight 1502 from Newark to Havana for more than a hour Wednesday morning before passengers were told to deplane.

“The pilot said they couldn’t get their flight plan,” Meola said.

Meola, who was headed to Havana on a Spanish-language immersion program, said he is frustrated by the delay and by the lack of guidance from the airline. Meanwhile, he and some of his fellow passengers were in a holding pattern at a bar across from the boarding area, waiting to see when their flight might take off.

“It’s particularly frustrating to me as an IT person that something like this can happen,” Meola said.

The flight plan delay is the latest computer issue to affect United and its passengers. On Jan. 22, the airline was forced to ground all domestic flights for 2-1/2 hours because of a problem with the system used to send pilots technical information needed before flights can depart.