Three U.S. airlines on Wednesday warned of higher fuel costs in the third quarter due to a jump in crude prices, adding to pressures the industry faces from expensive labor contracts.
25.08.2023 - 13:46 / skift.com / John F.Kennedy / Southwest Airlines / Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co’s flights resumed operation Tuesday after a one-hour nationwide stoppage, which the U.S. airline said was caused by a firewall failure.
The Dallas-based carrier said a vendor-supplied firewall went down Tuesday morning and connection to some operational data was “unexpectedly” lost, forcing it to temporarily pause all flights.
Data from flight tracker FlightAware shows 43% of Southwest’s flights are delayed, thus far. Many of the delayed flights are expected to be canceled later in the day.
The airline asked those whose flights are canceled to request a refund.
Shares of the airline fell 1.4% in mid-day trade on Tuesday.
Southwest has been under fire ever since a staffing crisis due to bad weather during the Christmas holidays overwhelmed its crew scheduling software, disrupting travel plans for two million customers.
The holiday disruption led to over 16,700 flight cancellations, costing the company more than $1 billion.
A sharp rebound in travel demand from the pandemic lows has exposed the fragility of the aviation system.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had to halt flights nationwide in January due to a systems outage.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a series of serious close calls, including a near collision in January between FedEx and Southwest planes in Austin, Texas, where the jets came within 100 feet of each other, and a runway incursion at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport involving an American Airlines plane.
The near-miss incidents prompted the FAA last month to issue a safety alert to airlines, pilots and others about the “need for continued vigilance and attention to mitigation of safety risks.” (Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago and Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath, Alexandra Hudson)
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Three U.S. airlines on Wednesday warned of higher fuel costs in the third quarter due to a jump in crude prices, adding to pressures the industry faces from expensive labor contracts.
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There are problems at two of the nation’s top five airlines. Labor problems.
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Saturday it is investigating a near collision between a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a Cessna Citation business jet in San Diego, the latest in a series of troubling U.S. aviation incidents.
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United Airlines is taking a subtle dig at rival Southwest Airlines’ massive number of holiday season cancellations in an ad it’s airing during the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) said it planned to seek higher penalties for airlines and others that broke consumer protection rules, saying they were necessary to deter future violations.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 3, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
U.S. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell on Wednesday said the panel intended to hold hearings after Southwest Airlines’ recent meltdown that led to nearly 16,000 flight cancellations in the week ending Dec. 29.
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