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Passengers on United Airlines today faced lengthy delays and canceled flights across the country after one of its computer systems failed, forcing one of the nation’s largest carriers to ground all departing flights for two hours this morning.

Computer operations resumed at 8 a.m. PDT but not before triggering systemwide flight delays for the remainder of the day, United Airlines spokesman Pete Scales said. The Chicago-based carrier this afternoon said that 268 of its 3,600 scheduled domestic and international flights were delayed and 24 domestic flights canceled.

Delays were averaging about 90 minutes, but some flights out of Los Angeles International Airport, where United ranks as the largest carrier, were more than two hours late, according to the company’s website.

The airline was still investigating the cause of the outage, which knocked out the systems to dispatch departing flights. It was not clear what type of computer system was hit by the outage.

"We apologize for the inconvenience and ask for our customers' patience as we resume operations," Scales said. He advised passengers to check on flight status at the airline's website, www.united.com or by calling (800) 241-6522.

Joe Brancatelli, who edits Joe Sent Me, a travel newsletter for business travelers, advised travelers "to cancel any travel you may have planned today on United" in an e-mail sent today.

"Planes are now out of position throughout the country and possibly throughout the world," Brancatelli said. "I would also be extremely circumspect about flying United in the next day or two.... This is clearly a large disruption and is certain have a ripple effect on United's schedule throughout the week."

There were no other reports of computer outages at other airlines. A spokeswoman with the Federal Aviation Administration in Los Angeles said its air traffic control system suffered no disruptions.

United is LAX's largest carrier. The airline and its subsidiaries account for about 15% of passenger traffic there, according to the most recent statistics.

jesus.sanchez@latimes.com