DALLAS- Southwest Airlines (WN) is currently grappling with a widespread outage across its system affecting its website and mobile application as travelers unable to check booking and flight status.
The airline has acknowledged the issue on social media, stating that their teams are actively working to restore full functionality. Southwest attributed the problems to high volumes impacting their operations.
Southwest Airlines Outage
The disruption, which began around 2:00 PM ET, has left customers unable to purchase tickets or access flight status information.
Downdetector, a platform monitoring online outages, indicates that major travelers in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Chicago are experiencing significant impacts.
User reports on Downdetector reveal that 59 percent of issues relate to website disruptions, 35 percent to app problems, and 5 percent to flight status visibility.
Frustrated travelers have taken to social media, particularly X (formerly Twitter), to report error messages encountered while attempting to book flights. Southwest has responded to these posts, confirming their tech team’s awareness of the issues and promising swift resolution.
The outage has also affected Southwest’s customer service channels, with some customers reporting wait times exceeding one hour. This compounds the frustration for travelers seeking assistance or information during the disruption, DailyMail reported.
Southwest Airlines operates in approximately 15 United States cities, collectively handling over 4,000 flights daily.
Hurricane Milton Disrupts Operations
Southwest Airlines’ nationwide digital outage is complicating evacuation efforts as Hurricane Milton, now a Category 5 storm, approaches Florida’s western coast. The airline’s website and app malfunction comes at a critical time when many residents are seeking to flee the impending danger.
Hurricane Milton is currently north of Mexico’s Campeche, producing 2-3 inches of hourly precipitation near its eye. The storm is gaining strength as it moves towards Tampa, where it’s expected to make landfall Wednesday morning.
Meteorologists predict life-threatening conditions, including nine-foot storm surges and winds up to 150 mph. Approximately six million residents are under hurricane watch warnings, with many facing evacuation orders.
Tampa International Airport plans to close early in anticipation of the storm, further limiting evacuation options. The Southwest Airlines outage has left travelers uncertain about their flight statuses and ability to book last-minute tickets.
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The post Southwest Airlines Hit by Booking Outage and Slowdown Across the US appeared first on Aviation A2Z.