The FAA has grounded Southwest Airlines flights at the request of Southwest Airlines for all flights on 04/18/2023. In a Tweet the FAA stated, “Southwest Airlines requested the FAA pause the airline’s departures. Please contact Southwest Airlines for more.” The reason is believed to be technical issues. While the airline is restoring operations many flights are delayed or even canceled. A look on FlightAware shows 1,512 delays and 7 cancelations throughout the Southwest Airlines network currently. This is the second operational issue in the past several months for Southwest Airlines. In December 2022 Southwest canceled flights across the country following an ice storm in Denver Colorado causing a ripple effect. Any passengers traveling on Southwest Airlines should check with the airline for the latest flight information.
As of 10:36am EST the FAA has announced the ground stop has been lifted. As of now Southwest has not set a timeline for normal operations.