Southwest Airlines flights delayed after technical issue briefly grounds flights nationwide

Southwest Airlines flights nationwide were delayed Tuesday morning after a technical glitch prompted officials to briefly halt its departures, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

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The FAA issued a ground stop at the request of airline officials after Southwest “experienced a technical issue with one of their internal systems,” authorities said. The ground stop was lifted about 15 minutes later “and their service has resumed,” officials said.

In a travel advisory posted on Southwest’s website, officials said the airline “has resumed operations after temporarily pausing flight activity this morning to work through intermittent technology issues.” The airline was offering to rebook travelers who have reservations to takeoff on Tuesday at no cost “in order to provide maximum flexibility.”

A Southwest official said on social media that the airline experienced technical issues that “created a domino effect on our operations.” Earlier, another official said it was not immediately clear how long it would take to resolve the delays.

As of 11:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday, flight tracking website FlightAware reported that more than 1,700 Southwest flights were delayed, accounting for 41% of the airline’s schedule.

Officials with Southwest said Tuesday morning the company’s teams “across the board are working diligently” to get customers in the air again.

The issues come after the airline reported widespread problems in December that stranded millions of customers. Officials said the issues stemmed from inclement weather and technical issues.