CHICAGO (WBBM/AP/STNG) - Things are still bad for travelers on United Airlines but not as bad as they were after a computer problem this morning made it impossible to print boarding passes at the airlines' kiosks at O'Hare International Airport.
The ground stop has been lifted, meaning some flights now are taking off. However, there at least two-hour delays as the computers are still down and departing passengers are being checked-in manually.
Flights still could land during the ground stop. But, once they did, gate space was at a premium.
The problem comes as a higher amount of traffic than usual is expected at the airports this weekend due to the July 4 holiday.
Departing passengers with no luggage to check are better off than those with bags to check-in because they can go straight to security, bypassing the United counters, to go to their gates.
United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski says Thursday's outage involves all of United's computers at O'Hare.
Because the outage involves United's ticketing system, Urbanski says the airline is urging customers to monitor their flight status and print out their boarding passes online at www.united.com before they get to O'Hare. She says United employees at the airport are using a manual process to check customers in.
Passengers described the situation as a nightmare.
Traveler Ron Leathers told Newsradio 780 earlier this morning that United's Terminal One "is absolutely from one end to other, full. Someone told me someone was processing people manually at the far end."
United recommends those picking people up from the airport to also check united.com for flight information.
WBBM's Kris Habermehl reported from Chopper 780 that planes could be seen waiting on the ground due to no or limited gate space. Long lines of passengers were seen forming outside the United terminal.
United is apologizing for the problem and asks passengers to allow extra time in preparing for their flights.
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