The computer outage for Southwest began around 2 p.m. Wednesday, forcing employees to check in passengers manually. For about three hours, passengers couldn’t buy tickets, check in for flights or check flight status on the company’s website.
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Southwest Airline officials said Thursday that issues that caused hundreds of cancellations and delays, including those at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, had been mostly corrected.
Southwest flights are delayed due to systems issues.
Midway is a major hub for Southwest, which operates more than 3,900 flights nationwide on weekdays.
Tina Thomas, of Florida, remained on standby for a 4:30 p.m. flight to NY after her morning flight was canceled.
Flight status and check-in pages returned to functionality just before 4 p.m., Southwest said. The big board at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks showed that about half of Southwest flights at Bradley were canceled. It warned passengers to expect long lines, and to arrive at the airport early.
It’s still not yet clear what exactly caused the airline’s system to suffer a meltdown.
The Dallas-based company called for a temporary “ground stop”, preventing any flight that had not yet left the gate to depart, spokesman Brad Hawkins said in a statement, according to Business Insider.
“It’s horrible, horrible. I know things happen, but they should have a backup plan”, Kennedy said.
The passenger told FOX 5’s Anjali Hemphill that he and his wife were trying to rebook their flight though a different airline.
Airport officials urged travelers to make sure to check with their airline before they head out to the airport on Thursday and the rest of the week. We are focused on getting Customers and their luggage safely to their travel destinations and apologize to our Customers whose travel plans are impacted.
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“Flight delays across our network have resulted in 600-700 canceled and delayed flights”, the airline said in a statement late Wednesday evening. Flexible re-booking accommodation is available to anyone set to fly through Sunday. Thank you for hanging in there with us.
