Southwest Airlines Flights Delayed Due to Internet Outage

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Southwest Airlines experienced significant flight delays on Thursday due to an internet outage that affected the airline’s operations system.

Passengers reported disruptions, with some flights delayed by more than two hours. Robbie Kohart, a traveler heading to Cleveland, received a text notification stating his flight was delayed by about an hour.

Southwest Airlines released a statement explaining that the outage led to a temporary pause in flight departures. “We apologize to our Customers for any inconvenience. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our Customers and Employees,” the statement said.

Some passengers were already on board when the disruption occurred. Amy Webber described her experience, “We were about to take off, and then it was delayed. We were told to stay on the plane for a little while, and then they asked us all to leave.”

The airport display boards initially did not show delayed statuses, as both original and updated times were listed. This caused confusion for many travelers. Cecilia George expressed her disappointment, saying, “It’s going to get everything very, very late to where I’m getting into D.C.”

The internet outage caused a ripple effect, with nearly 40% of Southwest flights across the nation being delayed. As of 2 p.m., the system was restored, and flights have started to resume.

This interruption serves as a reminder for travelers to regularly check their flight statuses, especially during technical issues.