WASHINGTON – Departure boards at Reagan National Airport told arriving passengers that their United Airlines flights were on time Wednesday morning even though a computer outage grounded flights across the country.
“On time does not mean on time,” says CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg. “Departure boards are ornamental. They haven’t told the truth since 1947.”
Instead, Greenberg offers these tips to navigate unexpected, but always possible, travel delays.
Don’t bother to ask if the plane is on time, Greenberg says. Instead, call the airline and ask whether the plane assigned to a passenger’s flight is already at the airport, for early morning flights. Or for midday flights, passengers should ask where is the plane assigned to the flight.
“That will tell you all the information you need so you’ll decide whether you even need to go to the airport,” Greenberg says.
Another tip for passengers who’ve already arrived at the airport is to find the gate for the departing flight. Then look at the arrivals board to see whether the next arriving flight at that gate is on time or delayed, he says.
He’s says computer glitches like the one that shut down United’s operations could happen to other airlines in part because there are few or limited backup systems in place when computer programs stop working, Greenberg says.
A fire in the air traffic control tower at a Chicago airport recently caused similar disruptions. With the tower out of service, planes couldn’t land or take off.
“For every 40 minutes you’re grounded, you’re probably two to three hours on delays because things just start misconnecting and misconnecting,” Greenberg says.
United’s computer outage lasted less than two hours so flights will be able to get back on track quickly, he says.
But for summer vacation travelers, Greenberg has this final piece of advice when heading to the airport: “Bring a book.”
