United Airlines experienced a technology outage impacting its reservation system on the morning of July 25, 2026, resulting in flight delays across the United States.
Delays Reported at Major U.S. Airports
Passengers reported operational disruptions at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. Delays affected departures and arrivals, and travelers faced issues with check-in, boarding, and baggage handling at these hubs.
Cause and Effect of the Outage
The root cause was a technology failure within United Airlines’ reservation system, which prevented the processing of customer ticketing and check-ins. The outage also disrupted operations at the airline’s contact centers, intensifying passenger difficulties.
Official Response and Ongoing Operations
A United Airlines spokesperson
confirmed the outage was resolved the same day and that crews were working to normalize operations. The spokesperson said, “Our teams are getting our operations back to normal after a technology outage affected contact centers and check-in processes earlier today.” Customers were urged to use the United app to monitor flight statuses amid the delays. Flights already airborne or those that had cleared the gate were not impacted by the outage.
United Airlines had a precedent of major disruptions from a similar technology outage tied to a CrowdStrike update two years prior, which led to thousands of flight cancellations nationwide.
The technology failure on July 25 caused significant passenger delays and operational challenges across the airline’s domestic network. Customers faced issues at multiple airports involving delayed flights and difficulty completing standard check-in and boarding procedures.
According to outage data tracked by Down Detector, initial reports of problems began before 7:40 a.m. on July 25, 2026, with over 430 reports recorded by 8:23 a.m.
