A ground stop on all Southwest Airlines flights Tuesday has been lifted, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA said in a tweet the airline requested to pause all departures due to an internal technical issue. The ground stop was canceled just after 11 a.m.
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Southwest Airlines responded to a frustrated traveler in a tweet saying, “We have had 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. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we’ll be here for you if you need any assistance.”
This morning @SouthwestAir experienced a technical issue with one of their internal systems.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) April 18, 2023
At the airline’s request, the FAA paused Southwest’s departures as they resolved the issue.
The pause has been lifted and their service has resumed.
We have had 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. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we'll be here for you if you need any assistance. -Katy
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) April 18, 2023
News 6 reached out to Southwest Airlines, and the airline sent the following statement:
This comes after the airline experienced a computer outage in a government system in January that delayed or canceled thousands of flights across the U.S.
The outage revealed how dependent the world’s largest economy is on air travel, and how dependent air travel is on an antiquated computer system called the Notice to Air Missions System, or NOTAM.
[RELATED: FAA cites NOTAM system outage for nationwide flight pause. Here’s what that means]
Before commencing a flight, pilots are required to consult NOTAMs, which list potential adverse impacts on flights, from runway construction to the potential for icing. The system used to be telephone-based, with pilots calling dedicated flight service stations for the information but has since moved online.
Longtime aviation insiders could not recall an outage of such magnitude caused by a technology breakdown. Some compared it to the nationwide shutdown of airspace after the terror attacks of September 2001.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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