United's check-in computers back up

United's check-in computers back up
By Julie Johnsson, Kristen Schorsch
Copyright by The Chicago Tribune
July 2, 2009 2:33 PM
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/07/computer-glitch-causes-long-lines-at-ohare.html


United Airlines said its check-in system is back up at O'Hare International Airport and that it is still 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 late 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 at the airport.

By a little after 11 a.m., FlightStats.com showed that United's schedule at O'Hare was returning to normal, with very few scheduled departures delayed substantially or canceled. About 100 flights were canceled between 3 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. because of the glitch, a United spokeswoman said this afternoon.

Chicago-based United has also issued travel waivers that will enable today's stymied ticketholders to change reservations without incurring additional fees.

Prashant Patel, right, of Streamwood, checks the line at Terminal 1 Ticketing as a computer glitch delayed United flights at O'Hare International Airport today. Patel is taking a United flight to Washington D.C. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)
FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said that United had ordered 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 called agents at other airport to have them check in travelers, with O'Hare agents then writing out boarding passes, she said.

United said the computer problem was unique to O'Hare, but because the airport is its 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.

As the problem unfolded this morning and crowds of waiting travelers grew on the upper departure level of United's terminal, airport officials 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, Ind., starting around 4:30 a.m., headed 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 a.m.," 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. After that, however, lines shortened noticeably 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.

"It's not the greatest way to meet them for the first time," he said, chuckling.

Steve Rosenbloom, a reporter for the Tribune on his way to Las Vegas, said lines outside of the United terminal were "massive" when he arrived about 7:30 a.m.

"The lines were from one door past another," he said. The lines "were pretty much bumping into each other."

Rosenbloom was traveling on American, he said, where there were no lines at all.

Lois Norder was waiting on a Dallas-bound flight this morning along with dozens of other passengers. The pilot, she said, announced that the plane could not take off because the computer problems were preventing crews from refueling it.

Airline employees told people in the terminal at about 6:30 a.m. about the computer glitch, said Norder, who was traveling with her husband. People who already had been issued boarding passes before the system went down were allowed to board, but those who had not were told they would have to wait, she said.

"The employees are really stumped," said Norder, who was returning home to Ft. Worth today. "They're trying to figure out what to do."

As she spoke, a voice came over the plane's public-address system.

Fixing the computer system, "can be a long and arduous process," the voice said.

But it was a process that finally had ended after nearly six hours.