All Southwest Airlines Flights Grounded Across the U.S.
by Daniel McCarthy /All Southwest Airline flights were grounded on Tuesday morning. Photo: nyker / Shutterstock.com
Update: According to the FAA, Southwest has lifted the ground stop as of noon EST on Tuesday. The stoppage delayed 1,793 Southwest flights across the U.S. on Tuesday, which amounts to 43% of its total schedule, according to FlightAware.
All Southwest Airlines flights have been grounded on Tuesday morning due to issues specific to the airline.
A statement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) just after 10:30 a.m. EST confirmed that Southwest had requested the FAA pause the airline’s departures. The FAA told passengers to contact Southwest for more information.
Southwest, according to news reports, wanted operations paused due to a "technical issue," though no specifics have yet to be revealed. An Air Traffic Control (ATC) notice is attributing the ground stop to "equipment issues."
The airline is telling passengers that it was forced to “implement a ground stop as a result of intermittent issues that were experienced, and we should hopefully be resuming our operation as soon as possible.”
According to flight tracking software FlightAware, as of 10:45 a.m. EST, 30% of all Southwest's Tuesday flights are now delayed, amounting to more than 1,200 flights total.
This is not the first time in recent memory that Southwest has experienced widespread travel disruptions. The airline's December meltdown saw 16,700 flights canceled and Southwest become the subject of a Department of Transporation (DOT) investigation.
This page is updating as more information becomes available.
