Southwest Recovering From Widespread Delays

October 12, 2015

Southwest Airlines is working to deliver late bags and shuttle displaced passengers after a software failure led to around 500 delays on Sunday.

The US budget airline expects its technical systems to perform "normally" Monday, according to a spokesman. The disruption slowed boarding for Southwest flights nationwide and impacted the process for booking new travel.

Hawkins said there was "absolutely no evidence" that a cyber security breach caused the application failure.

The delays follow several high-profile computer problems faced by US airlines in recent months. Industry consultants say the impact of computer disruptions will keep growing as airlines automate an increasing amount of operations, outfit their planes with WiFi and distribute boarding passes on smartphones.

In September, American Airlines halted domestic takeoffs for nearly two hours at three of its largest hubs because of "connectivity issues." In April, it delayed flights when an iPad application used by pilots to view airport maps malfunctioned.

A router error in July temporarily locked United Airlines out of its reservations records, blocking check-in and boarding.

Southwest, which says it carries more passengers in the United States than any other airline, resorted to back-up procedures to allow 75 percent of its flights to operate on-time, the spokesman said.

(Reuters)