Southwest Airlines flights within the United States were temporarily suspended on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, the second major disruption to the company’s operations in less than 24 hours. The F.A.A. said the airline was experiencing “technology issues” in a brief notice posted on its website.
Southwest acknowledged that its operations were hampered but provided few details. “We are aware of system issues and are working quickly to resolve,” the airline said on Twitter. “We will share more info soon.”
The company, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, suspended operations late Monday, too. The outage prompted complaints on social media from frustrated passengers across the country, several of whom described being stuck aboard their planes.
More than 1,500 Southwest flights were delayed on Monday, accounting for about a quarter of all flight delays within the U.S., according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service. So far on Tuesday, more than 500 Southwest flights have been delayed.
Southwest pioneered the low-fare business model that many other airlines have copied over the years and carried more passengers than any other U.S. airline in 2019. The company, based in Dallas, has been the most consistently profitable large airline in the United States.