Delta flights grounded after nationwide systems outage

US airline company Delta says all its departing flights have been suspended due to a nationwide system outage.

"Customers should check the status of their flight before heading to the airport while the issue is being addressed," the company tweeted.

It said it was working to resolve the problem as soon as possible. Inbound flights en route are not affected.

Delta serves nearly 180 million customers a year, employing over 80,000 people, according to its website.

It has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia and began in the 1920s as a crop-dusting company.

One passenger told the BBC he was waiting with "several hundred" fellow stranded passengers at San Francisco airport, after being asked to leave a plane he had already boarded.

"We were ordered off the lane after approximately an hour or more," said Dick Ginkowski.

"Tempers are starting to get just a little bit strained at this point," he added. "They aren't able to rebook anyone on other carriers."

Few more details have been given by the company but Delta has been responding to unhappy customers on Twitter.airlinb

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Image captionA typical exchange between Delta and a social media user