UNITED AIRLINES cannot seem to get its computers to work
properly. In March the airline drew widespread criticism
(including from this blog) for computer difficulties that led to
delays and cancelled flights. Those problems were attributed to
United's messy merger with Continental Airlines. In June a
"network connectivity" issue resulted in many more
cancellations. On Thursday, just before one of the busiest
American travel times of the year (the week of the Thanksgiving
holiday), United had computer problems again. The Chicago
Tribune reports:  The latest glitch involved the dispatch system
software that enables Chicago-based United to communicate with
airplanes before departure, delivering information on the
plane's weight and balance, number of passengers and baggage,
said United spokesman Charlie Hobart.... The outage occurred
from about 7.30 to 9.30am Thursday and resulted in 257 delays
directly attributable to the outage and more through the day,
along with about 10 cancellations.   "It is flat-out unac