DALLAS — Southwest Airlines has been working to get its flight schedule back on track after lifting a nationwide ground stop on Tuesday.
The airline announced it halted service due to technical issues early Tuesday morning. The problem led Southwest Airlines to temporarily pause all of its departures.
“They sent me, like, three messages. Delay. Delay. I’m not sure how late it’s going to be. But, yeah, it’s delayed,” said Antonio Zuniga, as he arrived to Dallas Love Field Airport.
Customers wondered when flights would resume. After several hours of keeping flights grounded, Southwest Airlines issued an update before noon, saying, “Early this morning, a vendor-supplied firewall went down and connection to some operational data was unexpectedly lost.”
Some travelers at Dallas Love Field mentioned experiencing delays between 25 minutes to two hours, in some cases. Many said Southwest Airlines kept them updated through its app and text messages.
While many people traveling out of Dallas Love Field were experiencing some minor delays, it’s the passengers who had connecting flights in other cities who are most concerned.
“We have an hour to make our flight. So, we’re just hopeful,” said Debra Blades, as she waited to catch a flight to San Jose with her friend Colleen Mefford. They are loyal Southwest Airlines customers.
Many travelers remember the chaos when Southwest Airlines experienced some major problems a few months ago, around the Christmas holiday. It canceled more than 15,000 flights back then.
"I don’t know what’s going on right now, but they do need to get it together,” said Mefford.
As the airline worked to get things back on track, some travelers said they hope the ripple effect from Tuesday’s ground stop isn’t too extreme.