This is a developing story.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) has been fighting to get back on its feet after what many remember as the great holiday meltdown of 2022, but today it's facing a new challenge that folks are not too happy about.
The airline briefly grounded all flights Tuesday morning due to technical issues and shares slumped lower.
Southwest sent us this statement by email:
"Southwest has resumed operations after temporarily pausing flight activity this morning to work through data connection issues resulting from a firewall failure. Early this morning, a vendor-supplied firewall went down and connection to some operational data was unexpectedly lost. Southwest Teams worked quickly to minimize flight disruptions. We ask that travelers use Southwest.com to check flight status or visit a Southwest Airlines Customer Service Agent at the airport for assistance with travel needs. We appreciate the patience of our Customers and Employees during this morning’s brief disruption."
According to earlier social media posts from affected passengers, the airline had grounded all flights due to "a system-wide technology malfunction," leaving many waiting more than an hour.
One passenger was told the ground stop would be in effect "until at least 8:00" and that Dallas is "overwhelmed".
Predictably, people were not too happy, and quick to mention that this was not the first time they had a bad experience on a Southwest flight.
TheStreet will continue to update as the situation develops.
