Computer, storms cause delays at New York airports

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York area's three major airports experienced delays of two to three hours on Friday because of a computer problem and thunderstorms, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said.

A computer system in Atlanta that disseminates flight plans to air traffic control centers had problems early in the day and the other system in Salt Lake City that handles such information was inundated, leading to the delays, said FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere.

Most of the systems came back online before 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) but "New York had more problems connecting," she said. It came back online around 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT).

"This did cause some delays in the system, obviously more so with New York," she said.

Spitaliere said later delays resulted from thunderstorms stretching from Canada as far south as Texas.

La Guardia Airport's Web site said arriving flights were delayed an average of three hours.