Strange problems in major US airlines - BBC and CNN

Southwest Airlines has canceled 1,150 flights since the airline's full ground stop for on Wednesday.

The trouble started with a "system outage," and the ground stop lasted for just over an hour.

The system came back up later Wednesday afternoon, but hundreds of flights were backlogged, and that continued to affect the airline all day Thursday.
Southwest (LUV) did say its operations are "stablilized and performing normally throughout."
"Our Employees in airports, online, and on the phone are assisting customers in large numbers and that is taking longer than average," the company said in a statement. "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."

Delta flights grounded after systems outage

• 32 minutes ago

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption The company says it flies nearly 180 million travellers a year

US airline giant Delta has suspended departing flights worldwide after suffering a major system outage.

"Customers should check the status of their flight before heading to the airport while the issue is being addressed," the company tweeted.
It said it was working to resolve the problem as soon as possible. Inbound flights en route are not affected.
Delta ranks third in the world in terms of most passengers carried, according to industry body the IATA.
What caused the outage or how long it will take to resolve has not been released.

One passenger told the BBC he was waiting with "several hundred" fellow stranded passengers at San Francisco airport, after being asked to leave a plane he had already boarded.
"We were ordered off the lane after approximately an hour or more," said Dick Ginkowski.
"Tempers are starting to get just a little bit strained at this point," he added. "They aren't able to rebook anyone on other carriers."
Delta has been responding to unhappy customers on Twitter.

Delta hit by computer outage, flights delayed worldwide

Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) said a "major system-wide network outage" on Monday had delayed flights worldwide and technicians were working to resolve the computer problem as soon as possible.

Flights scheduled for departure were not taking off, but those already in the air were operating normally, Delta said in a statement.

Delta operates 5,000 departures a day and is a member of the SkyTeam alliance alongside airlines including Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA).

It also partners for transatlantic flights with Virgin Atlantic [VA.UL], which said its flights were operating normally but cautioned that passengers should check tickets in case their flight was due to be operated by Delta as part of a code share agreement.

"Delta experienced a computer outage that has impacted flights scheduled for this morning," said Delta, the world's second largest airline measured by revenue passenger kilometers flown.

"Our systems are down everywhere. Hopefully it won't be much longer," the airline said on Twitter.

The outage was affecting flights globally, a London-based spokeswoman for the airline said.

Passengers stuck in check-in queues in airports across the world, or on board planes waiting to depart took to Twitter to share photos and frustration at the delays.

"1 hr.+ lines @HeathrowAirport for @Delta due to system outage," tweeted user @MITJAKE with a picture of passengers waiting to check in.

The glitch follows several high-profile computer problems faced by U.S. airlines in recent months.

Budget carrier Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) last month had to halt departures after a technical outage, while American Airlines (AAL.O) had to suspend flights from three of its hubs last September after technical problems.

Industry consultants say airlines face an increasing risk from computer disruptions as they automate more of their operations, distribute boarding passes on smartphones and outfit their planes with Wifi.