[Infowarrior] - United reservation system crashes, FAA issues ground stop

[Richard Forno]

United reservation system crashes, FAA issues ground stop

By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

Updated 46m ago

CAPTIONBy Michael Stravato, AP
-- Updated at 6:21 p.m. ET

http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2012/08/united-reservation-system-crashes-faa-issues-ground-stop/833343/1

There were more technology woes this afternoon at United, which suffered a "systemwide outage" of its passenger reservation system for about two hours, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.com.

The outage affected everything from United's website to the carrier's check-in and boarding processes. The problem was resolved around 5:20 p.m. ET, according to FlightAware.

It wasn't immediately clear how many fliers were affected, but the disruption was serious enough for United to issue a "ground stop" for United flights at several of the airline's hubs.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a "ground stop" for all United flights destined for three of United's biggest hubs: Houston Bush Intercontinental, Newark Liberty and San Francisco.

In layman's terms, a ground stop means all flights will be held at their point of origin until the situation improves at the destination airports. The FAA cited a "UAL COMPUTER ISSUE" as the cause for the ground stop, which was lifted around 5:30 p.m. ET.

FlightAware notes the outage involved the "SHARES" computer reservation system, which also caused significant glitches when United switched over to that system on March 3 as part of its merger with Continental.

---
Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.