Southwest Flight Disruption After Technical Outage

Southwest Airlines halted flight departures temporarily as it worked to resolve issues impacting multiple technology systems, a spokesman said.

Customers tweeted that they could not check in to flights as its reservations website appeared to not allow booking or check-in and had a notice saying, "We're working hard to get you where you want to be… Thank you for your patience."

A Southwest spokesman said a team is working to resolve the issues that began during Wednesday afternoon following an outage. It will take time before the budget airline resumes a normal operation, he said.

Systems were gradually coming back online, the spokesman said. The airline tweeted that "flight status and check-in are functional in our site waiting room."

The computer problem follows several high-profile cases faced by US airlines in recent months.

In October, a software failure at Southwest led to 500 flight delays.

Industry consultants say the impact of computer disruptions will keep growing as airlines automate an increasing chunk of operations, distribute boarding passes on smartphones and outfit their planes with Wifi.