Southwest Airlines Temporarily Halts US Departures Due to Software Issues

On April 18th, Southwest Airlines encountered an internal technical issue, which led to a temporary halt in all US departures. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported the issue on Twitter at 10:30am ET, and it lasted until 11:10am ET. This caused significant delays for hundreds of Southwest flights. According to the FAA, the issue was related to the airline's software. The airline paused flight activity to address data connection issues caused by a firewall failure, which occurred due to a vendor-supplied firewall that went down unexpectedly, leading to the loss of connection to some operational data. Southwest teams worked quickly to minimize flight disruptions.

This operational disruption incident is not the first time Southwest Airlines has faced software-related issues. During the holiday period spanning from December 20th, 2022, to January 2nd, 2023, the airline encountered software troubles that hindered its ability to manage its network during severe winter weather. According to Cirium data, all major US airlines had delayed or cancelled flights during that period, but Southwest suffered the worst operational disruption.

Following that winter period of cancelled flights, Southwest's scheduling software faced scrutiny, resulting in an investigation by the US Department of Transportation and a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee in February. Additionally, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the airline by its investors in January, accusing the carrier of misleading them about its ability to operate during severe weather.

Senate committee chair Maria Cantwell criticized Southwest's difficulties with crew management and scheduling software, stating that the recent operational disruption incident is another demonstration that the airline needs to upgrade its systems to avoid negative impacts on individual travelers.