Southwest Airlines is “in the process of resuming normal operations” Tuesday afternoon after a system issue caused flight disruptions nationwide for the second consecutive day.
UPDATE: Southwest Airlines says it’s "in the process of resuming normal operations" after a temporary nationwide ground stop on flights https://t.co/chqnWLwNpG
— 10News (@10News) June 15, 2021
The Southwest ground stop has been lifted, according to reporter Dan Patrick.
Ground stop is now lifted https://t.co/FYCNSALYtd
— Dan Patrick (@6abcDan) June 15, 2021
Southwest experienced flight delays across the country after a computer network glitch grounded the airline at several airports earlier Tuesday and Monday night.
By midafternoon Tuesday, Southwest had canceled about 500 flights and delayed nearly 1,300, according to tracking service FlightAware. The combination affected about half of Southwest’s planned flights for the day, The Associated Press reported.
The FAA held up all Southwest departures for about 45 minutes Tuesday while the company worked to fix a computer issue, an agency spokeswoman told the AP.
The airline attributed the problem Monday to a glitch with a third-party weather data provider.
I'll confirm. Was told at MDW just now it's a nationwide ground stop for Southwest. "Computer issue"
— John Partner (@john_partner) June 15, 2021
More than 1,400 flights across the country were delayed Monday night.
@WKRN @WSMV internet went down for southwest. Bags being checked manually. No flights are taking off. pic.twitter.com/NPUavNh2d9
— Jamie Clayton (@Jamieclayton) June 15, 2021
Airline spokesperson Dan Landson, according to NBC San Diego, said the provider was briefly unable to share weather data required for flight.
UPDATE: #SouthwestAirlines rep sending us this info about the tech issues that delayed hundreds of flights tonight across the country ✈️ pic.twitter.com/x14ocrYUPU
— Bill Wadell (@BillWadell) June 15, 2021
“While Southwest Teams and the vendor worked to restore connectivity, we implemented a ground stop to protect the Safety of our Crews and Customers,” Landson said in a statement.
@SouthwestAir just turned our plane around in the air to land until their weather system is back up and running. Supposed to land in Denver, just sent us to Wichita. What is going on? #notfunwithkids #exhausted
— Christina Shirk (@christina_shirk) June 15, 2021
The airline tallied more than 1,400 delays — nearly 40% of those scheduled, and the most of any airline on the planet, according to Flightaware, a site that tracks global airline cancellations and other issues.
@SouthwestAir currently tons of people stranded in VA heading to NYC that are being told the issue is “due to weather” and then being told it’s due to a “system outage”. It wasn’t until 1 AM after 3 hours we were told: next flight isn’t for 12 hours & hotels are on your own dime”
— Sarah Boom (@SarahBoomHoran) June 15, 2021
Delta and Alaska Airlines were also affected by glitches, according to ABC13.
@Delta the only flights available for purchase on the delta app/website are 1st class. Customer service is bogged down.
— Pastor Travis Johnson (@TravisJohnson73) June 15, 2021
I tried to purchase said 1st class assuming you would be able to unwind that after the fact.
App won’t complete purchase. Advice?#delta @DeltaNewsHub
“Delta teams are working to quickly address a technical issue that is making it difficult for customers to purchase flights on delta.com, the Fly Delta app, and through our Reservations Call Center,” the Atlanta-based airline said in a statement released to ABC News. “The ability to check in for flights is not affected. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this is causing.”
@Delta what is going on with your flights? We’re trying to book a flight out of Detroit and every single flight we look up says sold out. Even random locations and days
— Ashley (@ashheeeeeee) June 15, 2021
Delta has not said how many of its flights were affected.
More than 2 million people streamed through U.S. airport security checkpoints Friday for the first time since early March 2020, according to The Associated Press.
Passengers waiting at Baltimore/Washington Airport for Southwest Flight 1017 to Denver to board, due to system wide problem. #9NEWS #SWA pic.twitter.com/pPgq5Ihm9z
— Tim Ryan (@timryan9news) June 15, 2021
The Transportation Security Administration announced Saturday that 2.03 million travelers were screened at airport checkpoints Friday. It was the first time in 15 months that the number of security screenings has surpassed 2 million in a day.
The 2 million mark represents a turnaround for the travel industry, which was hammered by the pandemic. There were days in April 2020 when fewer than 100,000 people boarded planes in the U.S., and the CEO of Boeing predicted that at least one major U.S. airline would go bankrupt.
Rich Barak of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.
