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Southwest cancelations continue after systems outage
Southwest Airlines has apologized for a technology outage which has forced it to cancel hundreds of flights and led to thousands of flight delays.
In the midst of the peak summer season, problems began on Wednesday and have led to another 250 flight cancelations today (Friday), mainly due to displaced crews and aircraft.
The airline has already had to cancel nearly 450 flights on Thursday, nearly 700 on Wednesday and thousands of flights have been delayed.
The airline has changed its ticket change policy to allow customers with reservations through Tuesday July 26 to alter their travel plans and rebook at no additional cost.
Customers have two weeks from their original date of departure to re-book travel at the original fare.
The airline said today it is still experiencing high volumes of calls and many customers are taking to social media to complain about long hold times.
Southwest advised customers to change their flights online where possible.
Southwest thanked customers for their patience and said its website has been restored with full functionality.
It blamed the problems on a ‘ technology breakdown’ in its network ‘in which the redundant systems that are in place did not kick in as they should’.
"We have taken steps to prevent it from happening again," it said.
"We’re continuing our focus on getting customers and their baggage to their destinations safely. Our employees in airports, online, and on the phone are assisting customers in large numbers and that is taking longer than average," it said.
"In the midst of peak, summertime travel, we recognize many flights through this weekend were already close to full and we recommend customers who have flexibility explore rebooking on alternate dates."
The latest statement added: "We extend a heartfelt apology to our employees and our customers who are inconvenienced by the disruption in service. We appreciate their patience as we continue our work to make this right."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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