Continental's operations return to normal after computer glitch

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Continental Airlines' flight schedule has returned to normal, following a computer glitch Tuesday afternoon that forced the airline to delay 300 to 400 flights across the country up to four hours.

At 5 p.m. CDT (6 p.m. EDT) Tuesday, an electrical switch burned out in the computer equipment running the systems operations center in Houston, said spokeswoman Erica Roy. The equipment helps the carrier keep track of flight schedules, she said.

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"The safety of the flights that were en route during the outage was never jeopardized," Roy added.

A fire department shut a backup power supply as a safety precaution, preventing Continental from dispatching flights until 8 p.m. CDT (9 p.m. EDT).

Reuters contributed to this report.

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