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http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_171104548.html

A massive computer failure at United Airlines caused major delays for flights nationwide. The computer glitch grounded hundreds of flights for at least two hours across the country this morning.

At 10:10 a.m., United officials said the computers that record a plane's weight, balance and fuel had failed for about two hours, but were back up and running. The reason for the failure is unknown, but a United spokesperson says the computers were down from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and that planes began to depart around 10:30 a.m. The story was first reported by cbs2chicago.com and quickly made national headlines.

United Airlines planes that had just arrived at O'Hare, were unable to move off the tarmac because other United jets were stuck at gate after gate, unable to leave Chicago.

"Due to United Airlines' computer outage, United is reporting delays averaging one to two hours for all inbound and outbound flights at O'Hare International Airport,'' Chicago Aviation Department spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said Wednesday afternoon. "These delays are expected to decrease as the afternoon continues."

Even though the delays may have decreased, it was another big headache for thousands of passengers.

"We got boarded and then everything went down," said passenger Demetra Macheras. She was scheduled to leave Chicago Tuesday, but when she came back today, she had to wait some more. "We taxied and were ready to take off and then they said they had some problems with their computer system and we were delayed," she said.

A group of tourists from Kansas City had to wait on an airplane for nearly three hours before taking off. Passenger Ken Hawiknson said Ken Hawkinson, said evrybody was cool during the wait, but passengers say they had no option but to patiently wait for the problem to be solved.

"They just kept us informed of what was going on and said that it was a world-wide computer glitch with United," said passenger Lynn Green.

The delays were especially difficult for many adults waiting for children at the airport. Kim Swisher had three children aboard a flight arriving from Raleigh flying unescorted.

Swisher's nephew and nieces finally made it to Chicago, but not before waiting on the plane for the duration of the shutdown.

"It took them a while to figure out exactly what it was that was holding us up, but once they did they said "it's going to be a while. We can't go until they tell us," said passenger Alison Tighe.

Twenty-nine United flights were canceled in and out of the O'Hare. United passengers were being advised to check on the status of their flights by visiting united.com

United spokesperson Megan McCarthy said, “We immediately began to address the problem and tried to fix it as soon as possible with our focus making sure our customers can get to their destination today."

"We ask for our customers’ patience,” McCarthy said. “We thank them and we're sorry for the inconvenience."

At O'Hare, some flights were sitting on the tarmac for several hours. CBS 2's Kris Habermehl reported late this morning that arriving airplanes were unable to connect to gates because departing planes were unable to leave.

One passenger, who identified himself as John Jones, emailed cbs2chicago.com to report that the captain of Flight 105 from Chicago to Los Angeles announced that United had tried and failed to start their computer system. The flight sat on the tarmac rather than return to the gate.

The passenger emailed cbs2chicago.com later to report that the captain announced that the computer system has been restored.

''I am a frequent flyer, and it irritates me to no end when a plane is loaded and pushed off the gate--another "on time departure"--only to get parked for hours with a problem that they knew they had,'' Jones said in his email. "We pushed off at around 8:00. I would be curious to know when they knew.''

Jeff Ernstoff actually had to wait four hours to start heading to New York.

"Not as painful as final exams in college but coming pretty close, pretty close,” Ernstoff said.

It was the same frustration expressed in other major American cities.

CBS 2's sister station in San Francisco, KPIX-TV, says the duty manager at the San Francisco airport says United’s computer that deals with “weight and balance” in regards to fuel and passenger load had crashed.