Created: 11/19/2009 8:53:38 AM 
Greensboro, NC -- Federal Aviation Administration officials say failed computers that delayed flights across the country are now working again.
Ripples from the glitch that grounded flights and caused cancellations across the country were felt here in the Triad on Thursday.
The good news, though, for travelers at Piedmont Triad International Airport is that the headaches have been relatively minor. Still, the word of the day has been "delay."
When Mike Ryan and his wife booked their yearly vacation to Las Vegas, they never figured getting there would be the real gamble.
"We've been going to Vegas now for six straight years," said Ryan, who lives in Kernersville. "This is our only week's vacation that we take all year. And we do it around Thanksgiving time."
But their flight didn't get off the ground when it was supposed to.
"I looked at the computer this morning and the first thing that hit me was the flight glitch out of Atlanta," Ryan said. "And I said, 'Oh, my goodness. I booked this flight in June. Here we go, starting to be late already.'"
Delta station manager Tom Marzouk says none of his company's flights to and from PTI were canceled, but he says just about everyone will run into a slowdown.
"So far, I've seen an average (delay) of about 30 minutes," he said.
Tanya Cox and her mother spent hours waiting for Cox's sister to arrive here Thursday morning.
"The flights just kept on changing and being delayed," Cox said. "She'll be in shortly, I'm hoping."
In the long run, the delays are just a minor hassle and Ryan says they're something he deals with all the time. Besides, he's hoping he'll get all his bad luck out of the way before he touches down in Las Vegas.
"Last year we had the same (bad) luck (with flights) and my wife won," Ryan said. "So we're hoping again the same thing's gonna happen."
The air traffic controllers union says the computer failure involved both of the Federal Aviation Administration's computer centers in Salt Lake City and Atlanta. Even though the FAA said Thursday the problem had been solved, Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Union, said controllers were still entering flight plans manually into computers in some locations. The computers at the two centers, which handle flight plans for air traffic throughout the country, broke down early Thursday.
Although the problem was resolved around 10 a.m. Thursday, Delta's Marzouk says he expects passengers will see delays throughout Thursday evening. He says things should be back to normal by Friday morning.
All passengers should check with their airline before going to the airport.
You can check your flight status on digtriad.com.
WXIA, WFMY News 2
