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(WGN-AM)- United Airlines says that its check-in system is back up at O'Hare International Airport and that it is investigating what caused the computer outage at its largest hub on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
"United's check-in systems have been addressed and the number of flights arriving and departing O'Hare is improving," said spokeswoman Jean Medina this morning. "While we continue to expect some delays, we expect to resume scheduled operations later today. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning and recommend they continue to use united.com to check flight status and check-in."
About 8:45 a.m., automated self-service check-in kiosks began issuing boarding passes. About 75 percent of check-in computers were back in in service about 10:30 a.m. and the rest were up by 11 a.m., said United Vice President for Airport Operations Cindy Szadokierski in a press conference this morning.
By a little after 11, FlightStats.com showed that United's schedule at O'Hare was returning to normal, with very few scheduled departures delayed substantially or cancelled. Earlier, United said flights had been delayed and some canceled. "We apologize to our customers for this inconvenience and recommend they allow for extra time at the airport and use united.com to check flight status and check-in," the airline said in a statement.
Chicago-based United has also issued travel waivers that will enable to change reservations for flights they would have taken into or out of O'Hare today without facing any fees.
FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said that United had done a ground stop of its planes on its own that ended at 7:55 a.m. The problem began about 5:15 a.m., she said.
United had told the FAA that it was a computer issue that made the airline unable to check in people for flights and resulted in an inability to get final flight information to the cockpit, Cory said.
"I only remember in my 10 years one other time" that computer glitches have caused this much trouble with flights, Cory said.
By about 9 a.m., an airline spokeswoman said that it was manually checking in travelers through mobile units and laptop computers to facilitate check-in for as many customers as possible, Szadokierski said. To get around the computer glitch, agents at the check-counters also for a while called agents at other airport to have them check in travelers, and the O'Hare agents would then write out boarding passes for travelers, she said.
Travelers were being advised to check in online so they can avoid lines at O'Hare. The computer problem is local and affecting traffic only at O'Hare, but because the airport is United's largest hub, delays there ripple throughout its network. United had a system-wide computer outage in June 2007 that grounded its flights around the world.
Because of the crowds on the upper departure level of the United terminal, officials have diverted all ground transportation vehicles -- such as vans and taxis -- to the lower level of the terminal usually reserved for arrivals, police said.
Mary Ann Cuadrado, who is eight months pregnant, drove from South Bend, Indiana, starting around 4:30 a.m., bound for O'Hare. Cuadrado's nephew Jose Cuadrado, 13, was set to fly home to Puerto Rico at 8:30 am but the computer glitched delayed his flight.
"Now they say 10 am," a famished Mary Ann Cuadrado said. "I just want to go and buy them something to eat."
Earlier, about 8 a.m., Hector Villagrana, 40, was waiting to go through the security checkpoint and said airline employees were walking the terminal making announcements with bullhorns, saying delays would last at least another 90 minutes.
When he got to the airport about 45 minutes before, he saw about 500 people waiting to get to the ticket desks. Since then, however, the lines seemed to had shortened as many of those passengers passed through security.
In lieu of boarding passes, passengers were manually checked-in if they had their ticket numbers and filled out a form. Consequently, Villagrana said, dozens of passengers could be seen consulting flight-information emails on their Blackberries and iPhones.
Villagrana said the mood in the terminal was generally calm.
"No one's fuming or anything," he said. "Ever since 911 you seem to take these kinds of things in stride. ... It's because the employees are being so communicative. People get upset not being informed of what's going on.
Villagrana, 40, was on his way to Charleston, S.C., with his girlfriend Chrissie Richards to meet her family.
"United's check-in systems have been addressed and the number of flights arriving and departing O'Hare is improving," said spokeswoman Jean Medina this morning. "While we continue to expect some delays, we expect to resume scheduled operations later today. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning and recommend they continue to use united.com to check flight status and check-in."
About 8:45 a.m., automated self-service check-in kiosks began issuing boarding passes. About 75 percent of check-in computers were back in in service about 10:30 a.m. and the rest were up by 11 a.m., said United Vice President for Airport Operations Cindy Szadokierski in a press conference this morning.
By a little after 11, FlightStats.com showed that United's schedule at O'Hare was returning to normal, with very few scheduled departures delayed substantially or cancelled. Earlier, United said flights had been delayed and some canceled. "We apologize to our customers for this inconvenience and recommend they allow for extra time at the airport and use united.com to check flight status and check-in," the airline said in a statement.
Chicago-based United has also issued travel waivers that will enable to change reservations for flights they would have taken into or out of O'Hare today without facing any fees.
FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said that United had done a ground stop of its planes on its own that ended at 7:55 a.m. The problem began about 5:15 a.m., she said.
United had told the FAA that it was a computer issue that made the airline unable to check in people for flights and resulted in an inability to get final flight information to the cockpit, Cory said.
"I only remember in my 10 years one other time" that computer glitches have caused this much trouble with flights, Cory said.
By about 9 a.m., an airline spokeswoman said that it was manually checking in travelers through mobile units and laptop computers to facilitate check-in for as many customers as possible, Szadokierski said. To get around the computer glitch, agents at the check-counters also for a while called agents at other airport to have them check in travelers, and the O'Hare agents would then write out boarding passes for travelers, she said.
Travelers were being advised to check in online so they can avoid lines at O'Hare. The computer problem is local and affecting traffic only at O'Hare, but because the airport is United's largest hub, delays there ripple throughout its network. United had a system-wide computer outage in June 2007 that grounded its flights around the world.
Because of the crowds on the upper departure level of the United terminal, officials have diverted all ground transportation vehicles -- such as vans and taxis -- to the lower level of the terminal usually reserved for arrivals, police said.
Mary Ann Cuadrado, who is eight months pregnant, drove from South Bend, Indiana, starting around 4:30 a.m., bound for O'Hare. Cuadrado's nephew Jose Cuadrado, 13, was set to fly home to Puerto Rico at 8:30 am but the computer glitched delayed his flight.
"Now they say 10 am," a famished Mary Ann Cuadrado said. "I just want to go and buy them something to eat."
Earlier, about 8 a.m., Hector Villagrana, 40, was waiting to go through the security checkpoint and said airline employees were walking the terminal making announcements with bullhorns, saying delays would last at least another 90 minutes.
When he got to the airport about 45 minutes before, he saw about 500 people waiting to get to the ticket desks. Since then, however, the lines seemed to had shortened as many of those passengers passed through security.
In lieu of boarding passes, passengers were manually checked-in if they had their ticket numbers and filled out a form. Consequently, Villagrana said, dozens of passengers could be seen consulting flight-information emails on their Blackberries and iPhones.
Villagrana said the mood in the terminal was generally calm.
"No one's fuming or anything," he said. "Ever since 911 you seem to take these kinds of things in stride. ... It's because the employees are being so communicative. People get upset not being informed of what's going on.
Villagrana, 40, was on his way to Charleston, S.C., with his girlfriend Chrissie Richards to meet her family.
