Tech Tumbling: United Grounds Flights 6 Weeks After Alaska — When Will Airlines Learn?

Another day, another IT disaster at 30,000 feet.

Yesterday, United Airlines grounded its entire U.S. mainline fleet following a massive tech failure that brought operations to a halt for hours. For anyone who thought Alaska Airlines' meltdown just weeks ago was a fluke, United's system outage is a harsh reminder: the airline industry still runs on outdated tech and vague apologies.

Déjà Vu, But With Different Livery

United's failure stemmed from its decades-old Unimatic system—the same tool that handles flight tracking, aircraft weight data, and other crucial operations. In less than 30 minutes, United issued a ground stop that led to over 1,000 delayed flights and dozens of cancellations across major hubs like O'Hare, Newark, and Denver.

Sound familiar? On July 20, Alaska Airlines and its regional partner Horizon grounded every jet over an IT crash. That incident stranded over 13,000 travelers and left customer support lines swamped for days.

The Corporate Playbook: Blame Tech, Offer Vouchers, Move On

When Alaska faltered, passengers were handed vague emails, meal vouchers, and long hold times. United followed suit, offering travel waivers, rebooking options, and the classic "Sorry for the inconvenience" statement.

In both cases, the burden shifted to passengers to chase refunds, rebook flights, and demand fairness—all while airlines wring their hands and move on.

Escalate, Don't Wait

This is where DearCEO.wtf comes in. We exist for the moments when support bots fail, call centers ghost you, and airline reps pretend the best they can do is $12 in airport snacks.

With DearCEO.wtf, you can escalate directly to executive decision-makers—the people who actually have the power to refund tickets, reimburse hotels, or credit you for the wedding, meeting, or vacation you missed.

Airlines Count on You Giving Up. Let's Prove Them Wrong.

Next time you're told "there's nothing more we can do," know this: that's not the end of the story. We've already helped Alaska passengers cut through the nonsense after their July 20 disaster. Read our post on that here: Grounded and Ghosted by Alaska Airlines?

Because whether it's United, Alaska, or the next airline to go dark, you're not powerless—not when you've got an executive's inbox at your fingertips.