Travelers at U.S. airports reached a new circle of hell on Wednesday when a United Airlines glitch left its airplanes grounded, and thousands of hopeful passengers were stuck suffering in lines.
The airline grounded all of its flights, stranding fliers across the United States, after it experienced a system-wide computer failure. The Federal Aviation Administration reported a ground stop for all United flights that lasted until around 10 a.m. ET. Long lines formed at airports, as planes were grounded for about two hours.
We experienced a network connectivity issue. We are working to resolve and apologize for any inconvenience.— United (@united) July 8, 2015
The delays resulted in a domino effect on flights later in the day, as United worked to resolve the problem, which it described as "automation issues" related to "network connectivity."
"United systems are down worldwide, so I'm in hell," Instagram user toastercult posted from San Francisco International Airport, showing a sea of travelers standing at United's ticket counter.
#united systems are down worldwide, so I'm in Hell. #SFO A photo posted by toastercult (@toastercult) on Jul 8, 2015 at 5:46am PDT
Another photo from San Francisco's airport showed dozens of people waiting to check in at the international terminal.
Another busy day at work...can you find Waldo? A photo posted by Marcus Ramirez (@marcus_r57) on Jul 8, 2015 at 6:07am PDT
At Los Angeles International Airport, photographer Kristina Lee posted an image, which shows a massive line that she said wraps around twice.
My line.... (It wraps around twice) think I'll make it? #unitedsucks #lifeofaphotographer @thefranze A photo posted by kristinaleephotography (@kristinaleephotography) on Jul 8, 2015 at 6:58am PDT
Instagram user Michael Gards's photo, which he shared with a cheery, "Welcome to LAX!", showed a long line of travelers inside the airport who were trying to get through security; this suggested that getting in doors was only half the battle.
Welcome to LAX! A photo posted by michaelgards (@michaelgards) on Jul 8, 2015 at 6:56am PDT
Meanwhile at Chicago, traveler Peter Srejovic warned others via his Instagram, "If you are at O'Hare right now, you aren't going anywhere."
If you are at #ohare right now, you aren't going anywhere. All computers are down #flyohare A photo posted by Petar Srejovic (@psrejovic) on Jul 8, 2015 at 5:35am PDT
At least one passenger, journalist Betsy Fischer Martin, said pilots on her plane were offering free tours of the flight deck to satisfy antsy passengers, telling them, "We don't have anything better to do."
Now @united airlines pilot offering tours of the flight deck to bored passengers. "We don't have anything better to do" #unitedcomputerfail— Betsy Fischer Martin (@BFischerMartin) July 8, 2015
Martin also reported on Twitter that United's system to scan boarding passes wasn't working, forcing gate agents to manually enter each passenger's information upon boarding.
The @united system that scans boarding passes still not working so agents have to manually enter info at boarding. pic.twitter.com/gBTr1AqeDy— Betsy Fischer Martin (@BFischerMartin) July 8, 2015
Additional reporting by Jessica Plautz