Outage stalls travel for thousands around the globe

NEW YORK (AP) - The latest computer outage to afflict United Airlines has delayed thousands of travelers around the globe.

It's at least the third major outage for the world's largest carrier since June.

This morning's outage lasted for about two hours and affected half of all flights on United's main network.

Passengers were first told that computers were down and they didn't know when the system would come back. Later, passengers said they were being told by pilots and gate agents that a backup system was allowing some flights to take off.

A spokesman for United Continental Holdings says the outage didn't affect its regional flights on United Express. He says only those airplanes that came from the former United were affected. United and Continental merged in 2010.

United has been struggling with technology problems since March, when it switched to a passenger information computer system that was previously used by Continental. That system, called "Shares," has needed extensive reworking since March to make it easier for workers to use.

United runs about 5,500 flights a day worldwide.

Memorial Day Weekend Weather