United Confirms Software Problems, But Reservation Provider Sabre Tells Benzinga System Is Not Down

A Sabre Corp SABR representative denied rumors Wednesday that its global reservation system — on which United Continental Holdings Inc UAL relies to plan travel — had been down for several hours. The spokesperson told Benzinga that the flight-planning software caused some morning delays, but the company was working with the airline to resolve the issue.

Some travelers took to Twitter Inc TWTR to share their perspectives.

Massive outage. #unitedAIRLINES tries to downplay.

— Andy Stanis (@andystanis) February 8, 2017

The @united flight plan IT glitch today also means arrivals (including mine) are stuck on ramps and taxis, awaiting gates. #LAX

— justinbachman (@justinbachman) February 8, 2017

#unitedairlines stuck at IAH - no refunds - no flight plan grrrrrrrr

— Jamie Eno (@eno_jamie) February 8, 2017

.@united needs to overhaul operations & flight planning. Reliance on computers prone to outages without a backup is why #united ranks poorly

— Ayman Husain (@aymanhusain) February 8, 2017

A United representative confirmed "problems" with the software and suggested that travelers check their flight plans online or on the company app before going to the airport. United could not offer an estimate as to when the Sabre software would be fixed.