Merger Problems Continue For Carrier

A computer glitch Sunday left hundreds standing in long lines at Philadelphia International Airport and Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, US Airways largest hub.

The reservation system crashed during a merger of US Airways and America West's systems.

"We've had months and months of planning, hundreds of people working on it, but you never really know until you turn on the switch, and that's what happened this morning," said US Airways spokeswoman Andrea Radar.

Conditions are steadily improving, but waits are still long and the airline is encouraging passengers to print their boarding passes at home, on-line, allowing them to go straight to their gate according to the Charlotte Observer.

"We have every IT person working on it," said US Airways spokesman Phil Gee.

Passenger Larry Duerr of Charlotte told the Observer he stood outside in the cold for more than two hours Sunday because the lines were too long inside. Despite being encouraged to leave, he was still waiting in line.

"There has been no communication," Duerr complained.

The lines are so long because everyone has to check in at the ticket counter to get a boarding pass, according to The Arizona Republic. Normally, people who aren't checking in luggage can get a boarding pass from a kiosk or check in at the curb, but those options weren't consistently available Sunday.

A listing on the US Airways website stated Sunday night "Due to heavy passenger volume and long check in lines, you may experience delays at the airport. Please allow additional time for early check-in if you are departing from any of these cities. Cities Affected: Boston, MA (BOS); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Philadelphia, PA (PHL)."

Flight information tracking website flightstats.com issued a release Sunday stating of all flights Sunday among the top ten carriers in the United States, as of Sunday night at 7:30 pm EST US Airways had only managed to send 14 percent of its flights on their way within 15 minutes of scheduled departure times... and 41 percent of its flights were more than 45 minutes late.

By comparison, planes still flying under the America West banner -- and using the system US Airways struggled to adopt -- completed 71 percent of its departures ontime.

FMI: www.usairways.com, www.flightstats.com