United Airlines Restoring Normal Flight Operations Following Friday Computer Outage

CHICAGO, June 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines, a subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL), is in the process of resuming normal operations Saturday, June 18, following a temporary computer outage Friday.  The airline experienced a network connectivity issue at about 7:15 p.m. CT Friday, which was resolved at midnight. 

United apologizes for the disruption caused to travelers at affected airports and is reaccommodating travelers where necessary.

"While we will be experiencing some residual effect on our flight operations throughout the weekend, United is committed to restoring normal operations as soon as possible," said Alexandria Marren, senior vice president System Operations Control. "We encourage customers to print their boarding pass prior to arrival at the airport and give themselves extra time.

"We are reaching out through multiple channels to ask customers who were inconvenienced by this event to contact us."

United has been providing regular updates for customers through Twitter and other channels.

The computer problem interrupted the airline's flight departures, airport processing and reservations systems, including access to the united.com internet site.

Waiver policy for United customers booked on June 17 and 18

United is allowing fee-waived exceptions for customers whose travel plans were impacted by the June 17 computer outage.  Customers scheduled on United flights on June 17 and 18 may reschedule their itinerary with a one-time date or time change, and the change fees will be waived.  For customers wishing to cancel their travel plans, a refund in the original form of payment may be requested.  Complete details and eligible travel dates are available at united.com and continental.com.

Customers should continue to manage their reservations on the respective company's website from which their ticket was purchased.  Customers may also book a new reservation, change an existing reservation or check flight status by calling United Reservations at 800-UNITED-1 or Continental Reservations at 800-525-0280 or their travel agent.

SOURCE United Continental Holdings, Inc.