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Delta Airlines Computer System Failure Causes 'Large-Scale Cancellations'

BOSTON (CBS/AP) -- Delta Airlines is warning of long delays after dealing with a system-wide computer failure that led to "large-scale cancellations" and grounded all of their flights across the country Monday morning.

Passengers worldwide were dealing with long lines and delays and, from London to L.A. to Boston, thousands of people were stranded and hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed.  As of 10:30 a.m., Delta had cancelled over 300 flights.

In a statement from Delta, the computer failure was blamed on a power outage that happened around 2:30 a.m. Monday in Atlanta.

Delta said on their Twitter account earlier Monday that the outage affected flights awaiting departure, and that all flights already in the air were operating normally.

At noon at Logan Airport Monday, lines were still backed up, but moving, as passengers tried to get where they were going.

For Joe Leone and Tom Pinkton, that place was Punta Cana.

"It's a vacation that we've waited for for 6 or 8 months," Leone said. "You know what, there's lots of rum in Punta Cana to help us through."

And for WBZ security analyst Ed Davis, the destination was New Orleans for business.

"It looks like it's going to be a long day," Davis told WBZ-TV's Nicole Jacobs.

The airline issued a waiver for passengers travelling between August 8-12 on their website Monday morning.

 

One woman told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens she was considering renting a car and driving all the way home to Minnesota.

"My first thought was, are we going to miss our flight?" she said. "Then it sort of has dawned on me that there might not be a flight."

The airline said the outage was really only affecting international flights, but that all other flights were grounded too--and problems were persisting even after Delta lifted their ground stop order later Monday morning.

The company said its IT systems were down "everywhere" and "hopefully it won't be much longer."

Several applications were affected, including the company's website.

Passengers arrived at Logan to find long lines at the Delta counter.

"I didn't know anything about this before I got here," said passenger Jake Nogueira. "I came inside and my wife was waiting outside with the kids, and I said, 'this is the longest line I've ever seen.'"

Computer outages have caused major headaches for airlines and travelers before. Southwest Airlines was forced to cancel more than 2,000 flights across the U.S. last month after technology problems prevented many travelers from checking in or boarding flights.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports

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