Hurry up and wait at LAX *

This time the instrument landing system for runway 25R — the long one on the south side — failed after 9 o'clock this morning. That forced arrivals to squeeze onto the north runways, meaning that flights had to circle and wait their turn or be diverted. Two Alaska Air flights landed at Ontaio because they didn't have enough fuel to stay in the holding pattern. As the disruption ripples through the air traffic control system, average delays for some flights are exceeding an hour and a half and gate holds at LAX are about an hour. Cause? They dunno or aren't saying yet.

* 5 pm update: Expect delays to continue until about 8 pm.