A Computer Glitch Ends a Rough Week for Southwest
Southwest Airlines issued a ground stop across the country early Friday morning due to technical issues with the computer system. As of around 6:30am ET, the system was back up and running and flights had resumed.
Passengers took to social media to vent frustrations about the morning's events:
Southwest confirmed in a statement to TPG that the airline "briefly suspended operations (for approximately 50 min) as teams worked to ensure performance of some of the airline’s software systems that were upgraded overnight." The airline said delays from this morning averaged around 40 minutes, and that it is working directly with passengers who were impacted. Southwest also says there were no flight cancelations as a result of this morning's events.
In a statement to Fox News, a representative for the airline said that as of late morning Friday, "airport technology systems are performing normally" and that "flights are boarding and departing."
Friday's events are the latest in what's been a rough week for Southwest. On Tuesday, we reported on the airline's state of “operational emergency” after more than 40 of its planes were out of commission — more than double the average for a typical day.
"To address the number of out-of-service aircraft, we continue to operate under a staffing protocol enacted late last week to address maintenance items and safely and return aircraft to service. There is no priority higher than Safety and we appreciate the patience of our Employees and Customers as we work through these operational challenges," Southwest's statement to TPG read.
On Wednesday, Southwest also shared the news that the recent government shutdown cost the airline an estimated $60 million. No word yet if the turbulence will affect the airline's much-anticipated launch of flights to Hawaii.
H/T: Fox News
