Computer Glitch Crashes Reservation Systems at 3 US Airlines

Holiday weekend air travel didn’t exactly get off to a smooth start on Friday after a glitch affected the computerized booking systems of at least three major US-based airlines. The technical issues reportedly affected American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue. The widespread outages kept customers from booking flights and, in some cases, stopped passengers from checking in for flights both online and in person.

In each case, the systems were restored within hours, but at various times throughout the morning, frustrated passengers were directed to error messages rather than flight information. The airlines involved were left dealing with damage control for much of the day as frustrated flyers unable to reach customer service representatives took to social media to voice their dissatisfaction.

“Earlier today, Sabre had a brief technical issue that impacted multiple carriers, including American,” an American Airlines representative told Reuters. “This technical issue has been resolved.” Alaska and JetBlue likewise reported that similar IT problems that plagued travelers on Friday have since been fixed.”

This is not the first time in recent weeks that technical issues at Sabre, which provides reservations support to several US carriers, were blamed for logistical nightmares at US airports. In October, reservations systems used by JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, and Virgin America were simultaneously knocked out by a different computer glitch. In this case, the company said a “malfunction in the pricing engine” was responsible for the outage.

While the lingering effects of the early-morning computer trouble were felt throughout the day on Friday, Sabre officials reported that the reservations systems had been fully restored by 10:30 am EDT. “Reports from customers, agents and airports confirm all systems back online,” the company tweeted, adding “We apologize for interruptions to weekend travel plans!”