Power outage causes airline delays, cancellations

Flights for several airlines were delayed after a power outage in Minneapolis disabled a third-party computerized reservations system, officials said. Reservation technology company Navitaire, which services about 60 airlines, lost power Tuesday night after a lightning strike, CNN reported. AirTran, Spirit and Porter Airlines were among the major North American airlines affected by the outage, CNN said. Joe Garcia, an AirTran passenger stranded in Memphis, Tenn., said the airline gave him a hotel room for the night after his reservation was canceled. "They claim it's a lightning strike that knocked their system down nationwide. They couldn't issue new boarding passes or clear anyone. Flights left delayed but only with people that had preprinted boarding passes. They won't make any guarantees that the system will be up tomorrow," he said. A statement from AirTran Tuesday evening said power had been restored to Navitaire.