United’s global systems failure causing major flight delays

United Airlines caused headaches at major airports in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York this afternoon as computer problems affected its operations both on the ground and on its website.

The airline described the problems as a “network outage.” The extent of the outage extended from United.com, which was down for roughly two hours, to its systems at airports which required the airline to rely on hand-written boarding passes.

“No joke, this is my boarding pass for my flight on @united this evening. Systems are down in STL. #travelerproblems” via twitter.com/jmeg386.

Pictures shared by users on Twitter showed lines wrapped around the inside of Washington Dulles and Chicago-O’Hare airports.

Systems returned to relative normality around 6 p.m., but the three-hour delays mixed with problems related to the Hurricane Isaac re-scheduling will lead to a long night for many United passengers.

United announced via its Twitter account (see below), that “We’ve issued a waiver policy allowing affected customers to cancel or rebook without penalty.”

United’s reservation system outage could hardly have come at a worse time as the airline has been plagued with customer service and performance issues since the merger and integration with Continental Airlines. In fact, the DOT’s Air Travel Consumer Report shows that the airline was the receipient of more than one-third of all consumer complaints against U.S. airlines for the first half of 2012.

[<a href=”http://storify.com/skift/united-systems-failure” target=”_blank”>View the story “United systems failure” on Storify</a>]<br /> <h1>United systems failure</h1> <h2></h2> <p>Storified by Skift &middot; Tue, Aug 28 2012 16:13:55</p> <div>Wowza RT @AntDeRosa: The entire United Airlines reservations system is down, online and over the phoneSkift</div> <div>http://United.com screenshot as all its booking systems are down. http://yfrog.com/esmvyapSkift</div> <div>RT @united: We have a network outage &amp; are working to get systems back online. We’ll update soon.Skift</div> <div>RT @BriCoop7: The line at ohare. @united airlines system outtage http://lockerz.com/s/239253007Skift</div> <div>RT @AzenithSmith: At SFO — @united experiencing &quot;system-wide&quot; computer failure.. flight delayed an hour now…Skift</div> <div>RT @jason_w_white: Thousands of people stuck in lines at Newark airport because @united computers are down http://pic.twitter.com/vycLUqUYSkift</div> <div>RT @NYCAviation: GROUND STOP: @united flights to Newark held at their origin until at least 6pm due to the airline’s computer issuesSkift</div> <div>Dear @SouthwestAir : our IT failure grounded our whole fleet and thousands of passengers are stranded? I’d LUV it if you’d honor our ticketsJeff Smisek</div> <div>RT @aarontask Dear @united – JFK staff doing yeoman’s work but if you leave us on the tarmac any goodwill evaporates right quick. #514Skift</div> <div>Wow all of Security lines and Ticketing lines are wrapped around the terminal at Dulles! @united system failure http://pic.twitter.com/8X4Zl67PBrandi Bell</div> <div>according to FTer in ORD, only those with physical BPs can board flts. If you have BP on @united app, out of luck. Always print a paper BP!Points to Point B</div> <div>Why you gotta love twitter: http://pic.twitter.com/h1wOFjDnRafat Ali</div> <div>RT @jmeg386 No joke, this is my boarding pass for my flight on @united this evening. Systems are down in STL. http://bit.ly/PpXQa6Skift</div> <div>http://United.com site is back up now. Some airports including #BWI reporting systems back up.Skift</div> <div>RT @flySFO @United had a network outage this afternoon, but systems are now back online.Skift</div> <div>Update: http://united.com &amp; airports are back online. We’re in the process of resuming operations and rebooking customers.United</div> <div>We’ve issued a waiver policy allowing affected customers to cancel or rebook without penalty.United</div> <p>