from the night before and those showing up for their regularly scheduled flights. i got here about an hour and a half for a flight to los angeles. an hour and a half earlier was long enough in the past and clearly it is not today. reporter: the virtual shutdown which lasted for five hours meant passengers cannot check in and board flights in effect grounding the entire airline. the backlog put a strain on the upset travelers but on united employees who work to accommodate those left behind. you just go to the gate and they call you. reporter: some are hoping the airlines extends a jesture of apology. pay for my hotel tonight. sorry. reporter: another simple request. if an apology comes it is good for us. sorry means they feel our pain. reporter: the company did apologize in a statement that they released to the media however they didn t make it entirely public. here is what they are doing. they waived those rebooking fees for their stranded passengers. they ar
dulles tonight where he has been camped out with people trying to get flights. what s the latest, ken? bruce, i peeked my head inside a little bit ago. a lot of the lines have gone away for now. things have certainly slowed down. it was quite the mess inside there earlier today. it was a mess for both domestic and international travelers who had to deal with a long list of problems. yes, i m really annoyed. reporter: however you say it. frustration sounds and looks the same in any language. and even though their signs say easy there was nothing simple about getting on a united airlines flight at dulles on saturday. as soon as we got close to the counter there was complete chaos. reporter: a massive shutdown of the airlines computer system on friday night forced officials to cancel and delay a large number of flights. 31 flights were scrapped in the u.s. across the globe more than a hundred. and on saturday the united airlines check-in counters were swamped with stra