Reservation System Breaks Down: The computerized reservation...

Reservation System Breaks Down: The computerized reservation system for American Airlines failed for nearly 12 hours, hindering flight scheduling for the airline’s passengers around the world. John Hotard, a spokesman for the Ft. Worth-based airline, said the Sabre II computer reservation network went down shortly after midnight and was reactivated just before noon Friday. The computer network, based in an underground bunker in Tulsa, Okla., drives American Airlines’ computerized reservations system worldwide and provides services to more than 14,000 other entities, including car rental companies, hotels and a third of all U.S. travel agencies. There was no immediate explanation for the failure.