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Southwest Airlines grounds its entire fleet amid giant computer outage

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Mike Blake-Reuters

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Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 500 flights, which was about 15% of their schedule. The Federal Aviation Administration briefly issued a nationwide ground stop for the southwest airline. 

More than 1,600 southwest flights were delayed on Tuesday June 15th, close to half of the carrier’s schedule, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.

“Teams are working quickly to minimize flight disruptions and customer impact,” the airline said. “We appreciate our customers’ patience as we work to get them to their destinations.” The airline experienced a similar outage late Monday, which it had blamed on a third-party provider of weather data.

Passengers took to twitter in frustration at not being able to start their vacation.

Other airlines such as Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines reported separate technical problems that affected customers trying to book flights. Some Delta customers complained on Twitter that only first-class seats appeared for purchase on the airline’s website.

Airline technology systems are vulnerable to glitches and outages that sometimes affect thousands of flights. Airlines use huge, complicated IT systems that do everything from help operate flights to running mobile apps, and they are often overlaid with new programs. 

Southwest is back up and running and is celebrating their 50 anniversary this week. The airline is offering a special promo 50% back on 50 days of travel in the fall. All you have to do is book by Thursday, using promo code SAVE50.

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