The tiny elves that operate all the wheels, levers, switches and pulleys inside United Airlines’ computer system must be upset about something, because the airline suffered another huge outage today. That glitch (elven-caused or not) stranded thousands of travelers around the globe, some in airports and other stuck on planes as the airline dealt with the system-wide problem.

Back in August, we heard from stranded passengers who were stuck, delayed and otherwise inconvenienced by a huge computer outage at United Airlines, and it seems there bugs yet to be worked out in that system.

Two hours ago United tweeted:

“We’re aware of a computer issue affecting some of our flights. We’re working to resolve it. We’ll update as we have more details.”

It recently updated its Twitter to say systems were back up. But in that short span, thousands were frustrated by delays that spread around the globe, reports the Associated Press.

The outage disrupted about half of all the flights on United’s main network for two hours this morning, as the system caused a ripple effect to spread the delays out far and wide.

United hasn’t had great luck with its computer system since it merged with Continental’s passenger information setup last March. That network has needed lots of tinkering to make things run smoothly, but apparently whatever tweaks have been instituted haven’t quite worked out.

Feel free to regale us with your tales of delay-related woe via tips@consumerist.com.

United Airlines has another large computer outage [Associated Press]

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