United Airlines
United Airlines has suffered a 'systems-wide' computer outage Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

United Airlines has suffered a "system-wide" computer malfunctions this morning (14 October) that has reportedly caused "hundreds" of flights to be disrupted.

In a statement, a United Airlines spokesperson said: We're aware of an issue with our system and are working to resolve it. We'll update as we learn more. We apologise for the inconvenience."

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Later, the firm tweeted: "As of 3am ET [8am BST] the system issue has been resolved. Any delayed flights are resuming and we apologise again for the inconvenience."

According to The Independent, the first United Airlines flight of the day from the UK was due to take off at 7.30am with Washington DC as the destination – however, passengers were informed the plane would be postponed by at least an hour.

ABC7 News received a statement from United Airlines that said the issue was with a "weight reporting system" and that delays were then caused "system-wide" as a result. "We have resolved the issue and are working to get customers to their destinations as soon as possible," it said.

According to the forum FlyerTalk, problems have persisted for hours.

One person wrote on 13 October: "Currently boarded UA1447 SFO-EWR Scheduled at 21:55, captain just announced the master computer is down and won't allow us to leave gate. I tried to call 1k line and seems phone system is down too. Several minutes ago UA website and app stopped working as well."

Another commenter added: "Yep, everything is currently down. Website, app, phones, the works. Only weight and balance computer was down. Now the mainframe looks like it's crashed. Not a good day."

There is no suggestion – as of writing – that any flight or passenger safety was impacted by the system-wide outages. While The Independent has reported the cause could be a "cyberattack" there is currently no evidence to back up this assertion.

Irate customers using the service quickly took to social media to share news of the computer flaws and the frustrating conditions they were left in as a result – some even after the airline claimed the problems were resolved.

This is a developing story. If you have been impacted by the delays please get in touch via: j.murdock@ibtimes.co.uk or @IBTimesUK