Southwest Back Online After 1,000 Flights Canceled

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - June 11, 2015 : A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico during their first week of operations in Puerto Vallarta.

Cancellations and delays come as airline attempts to recover from computer failure.

Flyers aboard Southwest Airlines are still struggling to get to their final destinations, even though the airline’s computer systems are back up and running. In multiple statements on their website, Southwest confirmed their systems have recovered from a major crash that took place Wednesday afternoon, grounding around 700 flights and bringing their website down.

The original computer crash began around 3:00 p.m. EST Wednesday. Employees at the airline described the original problem as an “intermittent performance issues earlier this afternoon with multiple technology systems as a result of an outage.” By 9:00 p.m. EST, the situation was not yet fully resolved.

In a press release, the airline confirmed the situation had been resolved Thursday morning, with 3,900 flights scheduled to depart. However, the airline also noted over 300 of those flights would be canceled to “manage lingering flight disruptions across [the Southwest] system.” According toFlightAware, over 400 Southwest flights, or around 10 percent of the schedule, were ultimately canceled, with nearly 700 more delayed.

“The first priority is to get the operation back up and running and serve the customers right now that need to get where they want to go,” Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly said during a company earnings call on Thursday, according to USA Today. “That is our first priority.”

As acts of reparation, the airline has published a video apology on their Facebook page and is vowing to contact everyone who has been affected. In addition, the airline has confirmed they will work offer flexible rebooking options to travelers who hold tickets for travel through Sunday, July 24.

The computer situation is the second to affect Southwest’s travel operations in the last 12 months. In October 2015, a separate computer crash forced the cancellation of 500 flights leaving travelers in lines that were supposedly “over a mile.” The airline is working to discover the cause of this incident.

[Photo: Southwest]