American, US Airways flights grounded after computer glitch

Monday, Aug. 2, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.

DALLAS -- A computer glitch grounded American Airlines and US Airways flights from coast to coast Sunday morning, causing delays that lasted all day.

A computer company official said human error was the likely cause for the problem, which involved departure preparations, such as flight scheduling, catering services and baggage processing.

American had its planes back up after two hours, while US Airways flights were grounded for about three.

A spokeswoman at McCarran International Airport said today the glitches had a minimal effect on operations at the airport, since neither of the airlines has a large number of flights to and from Las Vegas.

American, the fourth-largest carrier by number of flights at the airport, has 25 daily flights to seven destinations, while US Airways, the No. 9 airline, has 11 flights to three cities. Between them, the two carriers represent less than 9 percent of the daily traffic at the airport.

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