http://www.philly.com/philly/business/7915516.html Computer woes, storms snarl Phila. airline traffic By Tom Belden Inquirer Staff Writer Airline traffic was snarled yesterday afternoon at Philadelphia International and other airports because of computer problems at the Federal Aviation Administration, combined with thunderstorms and a heavy volume of traffic, officials said. In late afternoon, dozens of Philadelphia flights on all airlines were running from a few minutes to several hours late, according to the airport's Web site, www.phl.org. The site is continuously updated at the same time as flight-information monitors at the airport. Both arrivals and departures were affected, with flights to the upper Midwest and Northeast hit particularly hard because of thunderstorms in those regions. "There's a major weather system in the Midwest moving east," said Jim Peters, an FAA spokesman for the Northeast and New England. "That's going to compound the problem." Takeoff delays from Philadelphia were averaging 90 minutes or more after planes had left the terminal, according to the FAA's Web site. The FAA also said that a problem with pavement on the airport's main arrivals runway was contributing to the delays. A spokeswoman for the airport could not be reached for more information about the FAA report. In Washington, FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said many problems could be traced to a computer in Atlanta that processes flight plans for airline and corporate-jet operators and sends them to air-traffic controllers. The computer failed late Thursday, prompting the agency to reroute functions to a similar system in Salt Lake City, which overloaded because of the volume of data, magnifying the problem. Although the computer problem was fixed shortly before 11 a.m. yesterday, its impact lingered into the late afternoon, especially in New York, where computer systems took an additional two hours to get back online. American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier by revenue, acknowledged the computer troubles. Spokesman Tim Wagner said American's operations at New York's LaGuardia Airport had been hit especially hard. Contact staff writer Tom Belden at 215-854-2454 or tbelden@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This article contains information from the Associated Press. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/ <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".