A Federal Aviation Administration computer glitch caused confusion and delays at some of the nation's largest airports Thursday, just one week before Thanksgiving. Although the delay was bad it would have been worse had it happened during the Thanksgiving holiday.

At Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT, a handful of airlines saw delays up to three hours. Passengers were told a glitch in the F-A-A software was to blame.

"The just said that they had to re-boot the system, it was a computer error," one traveler said.

According to the FAA, the problem started in Salt Lake City when a single circuit board failed at a computer center. The system stopped automatically processing flight plans, which meant air traffic controllers had to do it the old fashioned way. The ripple effect of delays stacked up fast, and fliers in airports like Logan felt the effects.

But a glitch like that might have been two hours on a average day like today, with holiday travel ramping up, a computer glitch like this would multiply delays tenfold.

"Its very disruptive to the system. It’s the only way to keep the airplanes moving," said air traffic controller Victor Santore.

This is the third FAA meltdown in as many years, and some say it is a matter of time before it happens during key travel days, which are right around the corner.

"We really are gonna test our system again. And if we're not ready, we are gonna see this kind of thing on a regular basis," said former National Transportation Safety Board Director Peter Goelz.

The FAA upgraded their software after another one of these glitches happened a year ago, but apparently more work needs to be done.
Some lawmakers in Washington have gone as far as saying the country's aviation system is "in shambles" and the FAA needs more resources to prevent future problems like those on Thursday.