Chicago-based United Airlines was recently thrown into the headlines, dealing with a massive system outage. That disruption triggered over 1,000 additional U.S. flight delays. The outage brought life to a standstill over several hours and created chaos. Flights going to other big hub airports such as Denver, Newark, Houston, and San Francisco were most immediately impacted.
Our airline’s operations and customer service teams dealt with the aftermath, sprinting to minimize our guests’ inconveniences and reunite them with their baggage. By late Wednesday, they’d been able to restore service completely, but some disruptions continued into Thursday. In a statement, United Airlines admitted the headache it’s caused to travelers and apologized for the devastation.
Details of the Outage
The Civil Aviation Authority said the system outage impacted thousands of flights and created significant travel disruptions for travelers. The root cause of the outage is still under investigation. United Airlines has reiterated its dedication to dealing with the circumstance effectively.
Passengers headed to our biggest metros—including New York, Boston, D.C.— waited inordinate amounts of time and had trips cancelled. In addition to widespread delays on flights into Newark, Houston and San Francisco, flights to Denver were especially hard hit by the ripple effect.
United Airlines responded to the situation by informing affected travelers and providing updates as they worked to resolve the issues.
Commitment to Safety
In statement issued by email, a representative for United Airlines said that safety has always been the company’s number one priority during the pandemic.
“Safety is our top priority, and we’ll work with our customers to get them to their destinations.” – United Airlines
This declaration is a reflection of the airline’s serious focus on a safety culture. No matter the technical challenge, they are determined to run operations at the highest, safest standard.
Customer Support Efforts
To reduce the anxiety that the delays caused, United Airlines took a unique approach to communicate with customers ahead of time. Behind the scenes, the airline’s customer service teams triaged issues and worked around the clock to accommodate thousands of travelers, rebooking flights and providing other necessary accommodations.
Travelers were advised to look up their flights online and contact customer service for further assistance. The airline wanted to make certain that every passenger would be able to get back to their important destinations as easily as possible after the cancellations.
