Southwest Airlines grounds, cancels flights after computer glitch
Jun 21, 2013, 10:14 PM | Updated: Jun 22, 2013, 1:02 pm
PHOENIX — An internal computer glitch has forced Southwest Airlines to ground numerous departing flights, according to their official Twitter account.
According to a spokesperson with Southwest Airlines, in all, about 250 flights were grounded — mainly those originating from the West Coast.
20 flights out of Sky Harbor have been delayed according to a spokesperson, while two other Phoenix flights bound for Orange County were cancelled.
All airborne flights were said to have been unaffected by the glitch.
Full service was restored just after 2 a.m. EDT Saturday, but the Dallas-based airline is still working to clear a backlog of flights and reposition planes and crew.
The airline — the country’s largest domestic carrier — also had to cancel 43 flights Friday night and another 14 Saturday morning.
Southwest is the latest airline to ground flights because of a large computer outage. But its problem was minor compared to those experienced by two competitors — thanks in part to its late-day timing.
In April, American Airlines grounded all of its flights nationwide for several hours due to computer problems. The airline ultimately canceled 970 flights. And last year, United Airlines had two major outages: one in August delayed 580 flights; another in November delayed 636 flights.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
