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Southwest says systems online but more flights canceled
A Southwest Airlines system problem prompted cancellations and delays nationwide on Wednesday and Thursday. The company has urged travelers to check their flight status on Southwest.com and get to the airport early — there will likely be long lines.
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NBC4
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Southwest Airlines said most of its systems were back online Thursday but warned there would still be many more cancellations.
As of 6:30 a.m. CT, more than 220 flights had been canceled nationwide, according to a company statement.
In Los Angeles, the computer glitch left hundreds of passengers stranded at the airport, including a group of youth baseball players headed to a Pony League National Championship game in Illinois, NBC4 reports.
Southwest said it ultimately canceled nearly 700 flights on Wednesday.
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“It certainly has been a challenging day with our major outage,” Linda Rutherford, the company’s chief communication officer, said Wednesday. “It’s, you know — we know we’ve disappointed customers today, and we’re really, really sorry about that.”
Rutherford said the situation was unacceptable and asked for patience as Southwest staff work to re-accommodate customers to get them to their final destinations. She delivered her remarks in a video posted to the company’s Twitter account Wednesday evening.
The company has urged travelers to check their flight status on Southwest.com and get to the airport early — there will likely be long lines.
The company said it will provide flexible re-booking for customers through Sunday.
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