This evening, United Airlines experienced a computer outage interrupting the airline’s flight departures, airport processing and reservations systems. As a result, customers may experience difficulties completing transactions at united.com and United reservations. Our technology team is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We apologize for the disruption being caused to travelers at affected airports and we are seeking to resume operations as quickly as possible

There is not much you can do, but wait for them to fix it.  This is pretty major as the delays will cause the crews to be come “illegal” which means that they’ve been flying for longer than the FAA allows.  So a new crew has to be found.  With airplanes in the wrong locations due to ground stoppage at select airports, there is no telling when this will get better.

As a passenger, I’d advise you to continue to check the following for updates:

• www.united.com
• www.continental.com
• the twitter page at www.twitter.com/unitedairlines and
• www.facebook.com/unitedairlines
• the iPhone and Android app
• pda.continental.com or mobile.united.com for the status of your flight.

Its pointless to call as the agents won’t be able to check anything for you either.

There was someone sitting in my seat when I got there, so I offered a trade.  It was funny as the ladies were really very friendly and I told her that I would not get up all night so she said I could sit in the window.  I would not have minded sitting in the aisle, but they insisted as she said she may get up during the night.  They were perhaps the best seatmates I’ve had in ages.

We soon pushed back and headed out in the cool night skies.  My best thing about Las Vegas is taking off at night and seeing all the lights below.  There is really nothing like it.  We took off with the Strip on the right and then making a right turn so we could see the Strip from the other end as we gained altitude on this wingleted Boeing 757-300.  I had noticed the winglets until we pushed back.  This is the first Boeing 757-300 in revenue service with winglets.

I was way tired so sleep came really quickly as I covered up with the plastic wrapped provided blanket.  A pretzel and beverage service passed through, but I was full from the barbecue at the Hilton so I declined anything.  Landing seemed to come quickly on this 4:15 flight touching down at 5:22a.  I don’t think I will make the connection flight I thought.

As I was in the back of the plane and we got to the gate at 5:30a, I missed the 5:45a which was in the other finger of Terminal C at rainy Newark airport.  The agents moved me over to the next flight, a Boeing 777-200ER at 7:45a.  I then went to find a place to take a photo of the wingleted bird which was now heading for Orlando, FL (MCO) at 7:00a.  I could not find a place though due to its gate assignment at 102.

I did however find a spot in the Presidents Club that would give me great pictures.  And so at 7:00a when it pushed back, I got a few pictures in the rainy dawn.  I also had some breakfast of cereal and mini muffins.  I left almost right after the pushback as I did not want to lose my place on this flight.

At the gate I collected my middle seat boarding pass and headed onboard.  It was freezing in the jetway, I thought these things had heat.  As I waited onboard, a guy came for the aisle seat, but no one showed for the window.  Once the doors were closed, the guy asked if he could take the window as I was about to move over.  He said he wanted to sleep; I guess I did not look sleepy.  I obliged him anyway and he was thankful.  I was psyched about having that empty seat as I believe it was the only one on the plane.

We pushed back a few minutes late and made the long trek to the runway and took off  into the rainy morning skies.  I reclined my seat and the guy behind me protested that he was tall, annoyed I un-reclined and tried to fall asleep.  Maybe I should have complained about the noise his little girl was making…The flight attendants did come by with a breakfast offering of cereal and bananas; At this point, I kind of wished the offering was a bit different, oh well.

This airplane has power at the seats which I utilized and audio/video on demand which I did not use as I could hardly keep my eyes open.  I did hear the Captain come on and say that due to the winds we would have to fly past the airport and then come back which would cause us to arrive at the gate a few minutes late.

As we descended, the guy’s daughter kept kicking my seat back and tapping it with her hands.  Her father never once told her to stop it or apologize for her behavior and I never said anything to him.  Some people can be really selfish it seems.

We landed without incident and headed to the gate arriving about five minutes behind schedule.  I then called Metro and was advised the next bus was at 10:51a, good deal I had enough time.  This was a pretty good trip.

How are you spending your weekend?

Houston, TX 17 Oct. 2009

The flight was quite full and I was only able to get an aisle seat, but I was happy.  I always prefer a window seat going out there as the American topography is spectacular.  It changes from flat lands, to snow capped mountains to green pastures to desert and lakes, just fantastic.

This pleasure was bestowed upon a Brazilian guy and his friend who were in the U.S. for ten days for a conference in Las Vegas.  They had just arrived on the red eye flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil so were pretty exhausted.  We chatted for quite a bit before takeoff and during the flight though.

We pushed back ontime and then had a clear path to the runway so we were off in no time.  It is a 2:45 flight this morning and we would arrive ontime the crew advised.  Soon after takeoff, we were served cereal with a banana and non-alcoholic complimentary beverage of choice.  Alcoholic beverages were 6 USD which can be paid with cash or debit/credit cards.  Headsets were 1 USD for the animated Disney movie UP, being shown.

I had a chance to get some zees as did other passengers including the Brazilians.  These early flights are brutal!  As we flew along, the Captain did come on and pointed out cool stuff. I love it when they do that.   It was soon time for landing so we all prepared for it.  You could see the mountains and brown desert floor outside as we descended into “Sin City.”  It was 8:31a when we pulled up to the gate a few minutes late on this Boeing 737-800.

I headed for the Presidents Club which is fun to find if you’ve never visited it, where a similar breakfast as the Club in Houston and the airplane was being served.  I got online and finished registering for the event, contact @sseagraves as he was attending and then headed out taking the train into the main terminal as Continental is in Terminal D at Las Vegas-McCarran.  Sadly, I would miss the keynote address scheduled for 9:30a.

I found a waiting shuttle for 6 USD, paid and waited.  Shuttles also cost 6.50 USD or 36.00 USD for a limousine and I assumed about 20 USD for a cab.  At about 9:55a, we left for the Hilton from where I would walk over to the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall.  I arrived there at 10:45a after dropping passengers off at Koval Resort, the Venetian, the Mirage, Treasure Island and the Riviera.  It was a good tour but I was annoyed.  I should have taken a cab.

These world’s longest commercial flights have been made possible with advancement in aviation and primarily two airplanes: The Boeing 777-200LR (LR is for Longer Range) and the Airbus A340-500.  The Airbus Web site states that there are 29 of these airplanes in operation and a total of 35 have been ordered.  It has a range of 9,000 nautical miles.  On the other hand, the Boeing Company says that the 777-200LR has a range of 9,395 nautical miles with a full passenger load of 301.  They’ve delivered 36 of the 56 airplanes that’s been ordered.  Don’t let these numbers fool you as the airlines can configure the airplanes differently so they can increase the range and they have.

Oh, I would be remiss if I did not mention the Boeing 777-300ER which is used by one of the airlines on the list.  Boeing has delivered 206 of the 408 on order.  The Boeing 777-200ER, the workhorse 777 is also on the list and allows these routes to be possible.  But enough of the numbers and planes, let’s get to the list.

I’ve compiled what is today’s top 10 longest commercial flights by distance flown along with the airlines flying them plus some more details.  Some routes which have been flown in the past are currently not being flown, such as Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) to New York’s JFK which was flown by Thai Airways (TG) on an Airbus A340-500 so it was not included.

Enjoy and please add your comment below.  I’d love to hear if you’ve flown any of these routes, airlines and/or airplanes. I’ve flown #1.  #8 continues to elude me in either direction.  I’ve flown the #3 route, but made a stop in Sal Island using a South African Airways (SA) Boeing 747-400.  Flown #2, but made a stop in Tokyo-Narita using a Singapore Airlines (SQ) Boeing 747-400.

Top 10 World’s Longest Commercial Flights by Distance flown

The bus came three minutes late and the driver did a Metro-directed detour as he said the road was blocked due to an accident.  Except he took a wrong turn despite us telling him where he needed to go.  I was a bit worried that I’d miss the bus, but it worked out well and the connecting bus arrived on schedule at 6:56a.

It was 7:55a when we pulled into Terminal C.  I made my way through security without incident and headed for the Presidents Club closest to my gate.  I needed breakfast.

Now waiting for my flight to Austin, TX (AUS).

How is your Saturday going?