ATLANTA _ A computer outage Monday grounded Delta Air Lines flights across its entire operation, delaying hundreds of flights during one of the busiest travel periods of the week.
"Large-scale cancellations are expected today," Delta said in a statement online. It said its airport screens are incorrectly showing flights on time.
Early Monday mornings are a peak period for business travelers starting the work week, as well as for vacationers returning from weekend trips and others.
Conor Bergin, of Atlanta, said he was already at the airport in Atlanta planning to head to Minneapolis, Minn. when he saw winding lines and soon got a news alert about all flights being grounded.
"You always expect a bit of a line at the airport but not like this," he said.
"Hopefully this doesn't become a theme or a reoccurring issue," Bergin said.
Atlanta-based Delta at about 5 a.m. said that the computer outage was delaying flights awaiting departure, though flights en route were continuing to their destinations.
The airline said "teams are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible."
Delta customers should check their flight status before heading to the airport.
The Delta computer outage comes after Southwest Airlines suffered a massive computer outage last month that grounded its fleet nationwide and had widespread repercussions on its flights for days.
Delta is the largest airline at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Dallas-based Southwest is the second-largest.
