FAA: United Grounds All US Flights on 'Automation Issues'

 

United Airlines’ U.S. departures have all been halted because of a computer fault, the second such setback for the carrier in less than six weeks.

“Automation issues” triggered the move, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday. United flights already airborne are continuing to operate, according to aircraft- tracking website Flightradar24.

“We experienced a network connectivity issue this morning,” United spokesman Luke Punzenberger said by e-mail. “We are working to resolve this and apologize to our customers for any inconvenience.”

United suffered a similar incident on June 2, when the world’s second-largest airline cited a lack of “proper dispatch information” that forced a halt in U.S. takeoffs for less than an hour. Planes in the air weren’t affected in that episode either.