Southwest Airlines was forced to cancel 500 flights across the U.S. on Tuesday after the airline company encountered a technological issue. It left thousands of passengers stranded at their points of origin and caused congestion at multiple airports.
According to USA Today, a brief pause in the network connectivity of Southwest Airlines caused the disruption in the airline's operation. By Tuesday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration tweeted that it was issuing a nationwide ground stop at the request of the airline. The order was lifted an hour later after the issue was resolved.
Tuesday isn't the first time this week that Southwest Airlines had to ground flights. Just the night before, flights were grounded when the airline's third-party weather data provider encountered issues. Per Reuters, the data provider encountered intermittent performance issues that hindered the transmission of data.
Southwest Airlines's Disgruntled Passengers
It's no surprise that the airline's inconvenienced passengers took to social media to complain about the delays and cancellation brought about by the tech issues.
One Twitter poster complained about missing his connecting flight due to the two-hour delay of his Southwest Airline flight. He was then told by airline staff to sleep in the airport by the airline's staff instead of being offered a hotel stay. Another said she expects a full refund after the "crappiest flying experience" she's had.
Other passengers chose to share the positive aspects of their experience, including photos of pilots serving water to passengers and playing with the children on the flight.
Past Tech-Related Incidents
The two straight days of tech issues aren't the first for Southwest as the airline has had its share of tech-related incidents. In 2015, online booking problems caused delays for hundreds of flights. The airline's customer service technology systems in the airport experienced problems, which prompted the ground staff to manually check in passengers in line.
And, in an incident that has nothing to do with the company's systems, a passenger's Samsung Galaxy Note 7 caught fire during a flight in 2016. The flight, which was traveling from Louisville to Baltimore was still at the gate when the incident occured and everyone onboard was evacuated from their aircraft.
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Background of Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines was established in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King. It initially only served passengers in Texas until former President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Law in 1978.
Today, the airline has flights to U.S. cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Sacramento, San Diego, and many more. Outside the country, they offer flights to destinations such as Aruba, Belize, Costa Rica, and Cuba.
According to Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines is now "the largest airline operating in the U.S. in terms of passengers served."
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Written by Isabella James
