Power outage delays JetBlue flights nationwide

JetBlue reported flight delays across the country Thursday caused by a power outage in its data center.

Even the JetBlue website went offline for several hours, keeping fliers from checking flight status and booking new travel. Even after the website went back online, JetBlue told passengers through social media outlets that some of the system problems continued.

On Twitter, the New York-based carrier urged travelers to be patient as it tries to get the system back online.

“Systems have been impacted by a data center power outage. No eta yet - we’re working on a fix now,” the airline tweeted.

The problems seem to have started around 9 a.m. Pacific time.

By 11:50 a.m., the airline reported on its corporate blog that “Power has been restored to Verizon’s data center and we are working to fully restore our systems as soon as possible.”

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By early afternoon, the JetBlue website said the airline was waiving change and cancellation fees as well fare differences for customers whose flights were rebooked Thursday.

JetBlue’s problems are not unique. In July, United Airlines reported a computer glitch that ground hundreds of flights. Nearly two years ago, a computer malfunction was blamed for grounding American Airlines flights for nearly two hours.

Computer experts have said that the problems with commercial airlines could be blamed on the use of larger and more complicated computer systems that are not supported with sufficient staffing, testing or backup systems.

To read more about travel, tourism and the airline industry, follow me on Twitter at @hugomartin.

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