Southwest grounds US flights following IT problems

A line of Southwest Airlines aircraft parked at the terminal.
Photo Credit: Southwest Airlines
Len Varley - Assistant Editor 2 Min Read
2 Min Read

In developing news, reports are surfacing of problems being experienced by passengers of US carrier Southwest Airlines.

An advisory just issued confirms that all the carrier’s flights across the US have been grounded “due to equipment issues.”

The FAA have confirmed that they have been requested by the airline to pause all departures.

Unsuspecting passengers on board Southwest flights have taken to social media, describing delays and hold-ups with their flights.

The nationwide stop has now been confirmed by the carrier, with the cause being described as “intermittent technology issues.”

According to data from RadarBox, approximately 1,200 flights, or roughly 30% of the US airline’s flight schedule has been disrupted by the problem.

Source: RadarBox

UPDATE 1625 UTC


As many as 1,500 scheduled flights have been reportedly disrupted by the system problem this morning. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has posted a social media statement a few moments ago, advising that Southwest had now requested that the earlier pause on departures be lifted.

UPDATE 1842 UTC – FROM SOUTHWEST AIRLINES…


Southwest Airlines released a statement about an hour ago and said the following on today’s incident:

“Southwest has resumed operations after temporarily pausing flight activity this morning to work through data connection issues resulting from a firewall failure.”

“Early this morning, a vendor-supplied firewall went down, and connection to some operational data was unexpectedly lost.”

“Southwest Teams worked quickly to minimize flight disruptions. We ask that travelers use Southwest.com to check flight status or visit a Southwest Airlines Customer Service Agent at the airport for assistance with travel needs.”

“We appreciate the patience of our Customers and Employees during this morning’s brief disruption.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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