Flights Back to Normal After FAA Software Glitch

ATLANTA - Air travel returned to normal Wednesday, a day after a computer failure at an FAA facility in Atlanta forced controllers to process flight plans by hand and delayed more than 600 flights nationwide.

The glitch hit the system that files flight plans, one of two such facilities in the country. The backup failed to engage, and for four hours controllers typed plans manually while jets held at gates from Boston to Los Angeles.

No safety was compromised, the FAA said — planes already airborne were tracked normally — but the ripple of delays lasted into the evening and stranded some passengers overnight.

It was the second significant technology failure at the agency this year, and it arrived as Congress debates funding for the FAA's next-generation, satellite-based air traffic system.

Travelers caught in the mess received the usual remedies — rebookings, meal vouchers and, from some carriers, apologies with mileage attached.

The timing, days before Labor Day, was lost on no one. "Nothing restores your faith in the system like watching a man type your flight plan," one delayed passenger said.

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Associated Press writers contributed to this report.

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