MILWAUKEE — Southwest Airlines paused all its departures Tuesday morning due to a technical issue. The pause was in effect for 30 minutes before the issue was resolved and departures were allowed to resume.
The FAA tweeted the news Tuesday morning saying Southwest Airlines requested departures be paused.
Southwest Airlines requested the FAA pause the airline’s departures.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) April 18, 2023
Please contact Southwest Airlines for more.
The pause was lifted shortly after 10 a.m., 30 minutes later.
"I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we'll be here for you if you need any assistance," Southwest said to one customer on Twitter.
By late morning on the East Coast, more than 1,500 Southwest flights had been delayed, accounting for well over half of all delays nationwide, according to FlightAware, the Associated Press reports.
As of 10 a.m., Mitchell International Airport's website has all Southwest flights listed as "on time." There are three Southwest flights scheduled to take off in the next hour.
In December, Southwest canceled nearly 17,000 flights over the Christmas holiday due to bad weather and its crew-scheduling system becoming overwhelmed. Those cancellations cost the airline more than $1 billion and are being investigated by the Transportation Department, according to the AP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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