Flyers at airports across the country Tuesday were stuck in line or waiting to fly due to a computer outage that was impacting several airlines including American Airlines, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines.
Sabre, the company that provides computer support for airlines like American Airlines, was suffering an outage that was causing the computer problems Tuesday. Travelers were tweeting from airports all over the country from Seattle to Boston.
"Sabre is currently experiencing a technical issue that is impacting multiple carriers, including American Airlines. Sabre is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience," American Airlines told Newsweek at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Sabre did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for comment, neither did Alaska Airlines. Sabre was responding to flyers on Twitter during the outage, "We are aware of the issues facing some of our customers. Recovery is in progress. We apologize for the inconvenience," the company tweeted to a customer at 11:45 a.m.
By 11:40 a.m. EDT American said that the issue was resolved. "Earlier today, Sabre had a brief technical issue that impacted multiple carriers, including American Airlines. This technical issue has been resolved. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience," the airline told Newsweek.
"All JetBlue systems are being restored following a temporary outage of Sabre's systems which impacted multiple airlines. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience," JetBlue told Newsweek at 12:05 p.m.
Flyers said that lines were forming while travelers had to rely on manual check in at the desk causing delays. Flights that had been grounded during the outage were also expected to cause residual delays.
"Earlier today, Sabre experienced a system issue that impacted some customers. Technical teams were immediately engaged. Systems have recovered and customers are reporting normal operations. We apologize for the inconvenience to those affected," Sabre told Newsweek just after 1 p.m. EDT Tuesday. Some travelers experienced residual delays at airports after the brief outage but most operations were returning to normal.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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