PITTSBURGH — The latest travel headache for flyers came Wednesday morning: an overnight outage involving the FAA’s computer system, resulting in thousands of flights being delayed and/or grounded.
Sharon Giovannone kept a positive attitude at the Pittsburgh International Airport after being told by American Airlines she couldn’t check in for her flight to Dallas around 7 o’clock Wednesday morning.
“It can’t be helped, so I’m just going to sit and wait,” Giovannone said. “Nothing i can do.”
Operations came to a screeching halt for two hours after the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions system failed, preventing workers involved in flight operations from having access to essential information. The FAA gave the all clear around 9 o’clock after the system had been restored, but for Tim Baker, who was traveling for business, it’s another day, another delay.
“[It’s] surprising…you know, we had this problem earlier, with a whole lot of flights being cancelled because of weather, and I never expected there to be a computer problem,” Baker said. “We depend on all of this travel to be accurate on the boards and happen without a hitch, and when it doesn’t, it throws everything off.”
Airports across the country are slowly getting back to normal, but Pittsburgh airport officials told travelers to check with their airlines first before making the trip.
“I’m just going to sit right over there until somebody yells at me, tells me to come over,” Giovannone said.
A spokesperson with the Pittsburgh International Airport released the following statement:
The FAA has lifted a nationwide ground stop and airlines are returning to normal operations at PIT. Passengers should prepare for flight delays and disruptions for the rest of the day, and check with their airlines for any changes to their itineraries.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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