Thousands of customers from some of the largest U.S. airlines endured long delays Monday morning, as their flights were held back due to a contractor’s computer problem. The technical issue forced Southwest Airlines to shut down all U.S. flights for 40 minutes Monday.
The issue has been resolved, airlines said shortly after 8 a.m. ET. But by then, the delays had been mounting for more than an hour.
“Several U.S. airlines are experiencing computer issues this morning,” the Federal Aviation Administration said on Twitter, asking passengers to check on their flights’ status with their airlines. The agency reminded readers — some of them, no doubt, frustrated passengers whose planes had not taken off — that it does not control flight cancellations.
The delay hit Southwest Airlines shortly after 7 a.m. ET, forcing a ground stop that lasted until 7:45 a.m.
“As of 9 a.m. Eastern Time, more than 600 Southwest flights today had been delayed,” NPR’s David Schaper reports. “United says about 150 flights with its regional carriers were affected; American and Delta also say a couple dozen flights on it regional carriers were affected.”
The carrier said a third-party vendor’s computer outage affected “data used in flight planning.”
That vendor is AeroData, a company that lets airlines plan the weight and balance of their aircraft, along with other flight planning systems, Southwest said in an email to NPR.
AeroData’s customers include Southwest, American, Delta, United, and JetBlue — airlines that reported delays Monday.
AeroData’s system “is the last application used by pilots before the aircraft entry door is closed prior to takeoff,” according to a 2017 company profile by data management company VMware. “As a result, just five minutes of system downtime can result in over 100 delayed flights and loss of revenue.”
Major delays were reported at a number of airports Monday, from Phoenix to New Orleans and from Atlanta to New York and Chicago, according to FlightRadar 24. For affected airlines, the early disruption sent ripples through their flights Monday morning.
As they apologized to travelers, the carriers also said the situation was beyond their control.
“The AeroData system is coming back slowly,” American Airlines said via Twitter, adding that further departure delays would likely be necessary Monday.
The technical problems added to weather-related safety concerns at a number of airports; the FAA said high winds could lead to delays in Boston, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia.
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