After experiencing “intermittent technology issues” that temporarily hampered its operations, Southwest Airlines resumed all departures on Tuesday morning.
Southwest informed a Business source that the airline was required to halt flight operations as it “worked through data connection issues resulting from a firewall failure.”
The Dallas-based airline claims that early on Tuesday, a vendor-supplied firewall failed, and as a result, “connection to some operational data was unexpectedly lost.”
More than 1,700 flights had been delayed as of 11:30 a.m. ET, according to FlightAware. Southwest said its staff members worked rapidly to minimize disruptions.
Southwest’s temporary suspension of all departures was lifted shortly after 11 a.m. ET, according to a tweet from the Federal Aviation Administration, and service was once again provided.
The FAA sent an update around 30 minutes after initially stating that the carrier “requested the FAA pause the airline’s departures.”
After an operational meltdown in December that resulted in nearly 17,000 flight cancellations and the displacement of millions of passengers over the Christmas season, Southwest is still working to restore its reputation.
As soon as the winter storm during the Christmas weekend hit, numerous major airlines experienced delays. After the storm passed, other significant domestic carriers began to recover, but Southwest’s issues grew worse. Its old crew-scheduling system was overloaded, making it impossible for workers and aircraft to carry out flights.
Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson testified before the Senate Commerce Committee that the company lacked “enough resiliency” when severe winter weather hit “key airports.”
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